Burning Black Ep1, Act 4: The Darkest of Secrets
by Digi-Dolphin
Summary: 4 of 5. As the anti-fairies lose direction without their leader, Timmy presses on despite all warnings to continue bringing down the Spires. Things are descending into chaos rapidly. Perhaps it's time to reveal one last trump card as Remy does the same...
1. Chapter 1

_**Burning Black**_

Act 4:

The Darkest of Secrets

1

* * *

There were few times in their young lives that the members of Team Turner were at a loss for ideas. The previous day was mostly a blur now, receding into their memories as activity bustled around them in the Ivory Tower. They watched dozens of anti-fairies fly in and out of the Tower on missions to local spots in search of additional negative energy, small groups going out as the rest clustered in guest rooms to rest and hide from Jorgen Von Strangle. It wasn't normal; once Friday the Thirteenth ended, all anti-fairies would be taken back to Anti-Fairy World by the drill instructor, always forcefully. This time, the antis were smart enough to stay within Dimmsdale, protected by the nullification field that prevented Jorgen's usual explosive entrance. He could have gone in through the round-about method, leaping down to Earth from another bridge point and then moving into Dimmsdale physically, but he probably wasn't smart enough to get that idea.

Another bit of normality that had been suspended was the organization; anti-fairies only obeyed Anti-Cosmo's orders, when he chose to give them. Without him around, they would keep the rulings in mind, but they generally did whatever they pleased. Team Turner sat tiredly on the plush sofas of the foyer, looking up at the ceiling artwork and the occasional anti-fairy flying overhead.

It was Saturday, more than twelve hours since they found Timmy bent over Anti-Cosmo's broken body, clutching a letter and urging the evil little creature to open his eyes, cackle maniacally, say something sophisticated and devilish, anything. Saturday, and the last anyone heard of Timmy's voice was his startled exclamation at Anti-Wanda's words (_"Sugarsnack, Anti-Cozzie told us that if he couldn't lead us, you were gonna be our stand-in boss! So boss already!"_) and then his first command to the anti-fairies.

_"Half of you, go out into Dimmsdale a squadron at a time and cause as much bad luck as you can! Gather the energy and bring it to the Ivory Tower! The rest of you, go to the Tower and rest your wings! I want you to trade places with each squadron of antis that return so everyone can get some time to recover from this!"_

He hadn't spoken again since then, just stood outside the glass wall of the Ivory Tower's intensive care unit, staring into it as Mint Adnade, a highly skilled healer that worked in the medical ward of the Tower, bustled about the various machines that kept Anti-Cosmo rooted to the living world. The note remained clutched in one hand.

There had been efforts to talk to him, get him to respond to them, but nothing worked. Not even his fairy godparents, Cosmo and Wanda, could reach him. They could have tried harder, but they were also affected by the tragedy in their own strange ways. Wanda floated by her anti-self, offering what she could in comforting words as she gazed worriedly at her godson. Cosmo spent more time in the training room, destroying every drone that waddled out without even looking at it, muttering angrily to himself as he lashed aside with his wand. When he did talk to Timmy, it was in short sentences, often struggling with his words, almost as though some invisible hand was trying to wrench his voice out of his throat.

The other fairies clung close to their godchildren to keep them protected; Andromeda to Tootie and Apollo to Trixie. Chester, A.J., Sanjay, Elmer, Victoria and now Chip Skylark resorted to hoping that they would be overlooked in the mad dash for energy, the negative emotions of humans the only real sustaining force keeping Anti-Cosmo from withering into dust. They had succeeded in their mission to cut the network connections, ready to plan the attack on the next Dark Spire, and then this happened. And Wanda adamantly screaming at everyone to leave the Spires alone; Timmy didn't even bother to address that. The group looked at one another worriedly. What were they supposed to do now? Chip had already been given a basic rundown of what was happening and had jumped at the chance of helping them. The team was growing in members and power, but their team leader, the one who wielded the most magical potential, had sunk into some unreachable cave within his mind.

"This is crazy." Tootie whispered to no one in particular, gazing down at her boots as anti-fairies continued flying back and forth over her, "We scored a major victory, and then... blah. God, we have the worst luck." She winced just as she finished saying that and glared up at an anti that paused and looked down at her hopefully, "Oh, fine. Take it. If it'll help Anti-Cosmo and get Timmy back to normal, do it and get out of here." And in a matter of moments, a black aura flared up around her, all her frustration and anger and sorrows called up by the magic of the anti-fairy and siphoned away by its wand. The anti grinned an evil grin and flew back to the higher levels of the Tower, ready to deliver another life-sustaining boost of negative energy.

"Normally, I would say that that wasn't such a good idea, but given the circumstances..." her fairy godmother, Romi, remarked tiredly. She looked around at the gathering of humans and the only other fairy in the group, then sighed. "So... what now?" she finally asked.

"Dunno." Chester muttered, his face resting on his fists as he looked past the group in boredom, "We really can't do much with all of our power fighters tied up like this. Danny Phantom's gone psycho, Caleb's gone off the deep end trying to fix him and now Timmy's standing up there like a comatose statue 'cause some anti-fairy got the shit beat out of him." He rolled his eyes up and squinted thoughtfully. "We can put together a plan to take out the next Spire, but we won't be able to do it until all this gets worked out." he added.

"Should we try talking to him again?" Trixie asked carefully, flinching at the collective glare shot towards her.

"Nothing gets through that head of his." Victoria griped, her arms thrown back over the sofa and legs crossed in mock relaxation, "I kicked him over earlier. Know what he did? Got back up, dusted himself off, then went right back to watching that blonde bimbo in ICU punch buttons." Her face soured even more. "I wanted to rip his head off, but he probably would've just reached up and pulled it back down on his stubby neck and not even blink."

"The power of music didn't help. It just went over his head." Chip sighed dejectedly, "Never saw the little dude look so..." He paused as he tried to search his brain for the appropriate phrase. "Torn." he decided on, "Like he doesn't know what to do, but he's doing his damnedest to make sure we don't see that in him."

"We've tried all manners of psychological comforts to have our dear friend come out of that shell, but nothing has worked." Sanjay sighed and lifted his hands to shake at the heavens in some religious fervor, "Oh, why have you forsaken the blessings of the blissful Shangri-la from our beloved Heart?" Elmer shot him a glare from his seat on the sofa.

"It's not a real place!" he yelled in irritation, "God, how many times do I have to tell you that?" The Hindu turned and poked at his nose.

"And how many times have I told you to keep that hat on your head?" he retaliated as Tootie stood up with a newly determined expression.

"I'm sick of just sitting here, twiddling my thumbs and not doing anything!" she finally screamed in frustration, waving her fists furiously in the air, _"Timmy Turner! Get the hell down here and tell us what's wrong with you!"_

"He's not gonna hear you from all the way down here, stupid." Trixie griped, earning a quick glare from Chester. She flipped her hair back and looked worried. "Although, should someone go up there and see if he's gotten any better?"

"We checked five minutes ago. He hasn't moved an inch." A.J. sighed, "And since he's dead, he won't be moving anytime soon."

"He will be now." Tootie growled and marched towards the glass elevator, "I'm getting his mind off of all this so he can relax and recover from this and there's only one way I can think of to do it!" She spun in the lift and thrust a finger into the air as it began to move. "Our date!" As it disappeared into the upper layers, Trixie uttered a sudden sharp curse, making everyone stare at her in surprise.

"Dammit! I forgot he lost that bet!" she grumbled.

* * *

He was still there.

Tootie stood at the entrance to ICU, shaking her head slowly and with some amount of sympathy. He really did have attachments to the strangest people. Like any normal kid, Timmy viewed those who did him harm in any way as an enemy, yet he was slowly turning some of those enemies into allies, maybe even friends. Strange, he was giving the anti-fairy leader the same attention he gave to Cosmo and Wanda...

"Timmy?" she finally called out and walked up beside him, gazing into the room beyond the glass wall, "How is he?" Silence stretched on between them as they watched the healer working the various machines and devices.

"This is my fault." Timmy finally said, his voice hollow, dead. Tootie looked up at him in alarm. "He got hurt because of me. Danny got changed because he was busy worrying about me and not himself. Caleb is mad because of me." he went on and bowed his head, "I'm no Hero; I'm a curse. Look what I did. I should never have been brought back to life."

"Don't say that!" the Goth exclaimed hotly, "Never say that! The things that happened to Danny and Caleb and... and... and even Anti-Cosmo... aren't your fault!" She shook her head, glaring up at him fiercely. "They got hurt trying to help you, true, but they _chose_ to do it themselves! You didn't force them to help; you tried to get them uninvolved in things as much as possible!" She waved a hand towards the comatose anti-fairy. "He wanted to find out why you were murdered for his own reasons, right? That's what he said, right? So he got hurt doing his own personal mission; that's no excuse to heap all the blame and guilt on yourself!" The brunet gave her a tired look.

"But it was **because** of me that he went off and this happened." he insisted in a dull tone. Tootie scowled and punched at his shoulder.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" she yelled, emphasizing each word with a blow, "What happened, happened! Let! It! Go!" She continued punching until she felt a hand grab her wrist tightly, then looked up at Timmy's angry face in mild surprise.

"Stop hitting me." he growled at her, "I don't need your Gothic healing tricks; that doesn't work on me like it does for Danny." Tootie huffed and gave him another punch, this time with her free hand. The blow didn't land; it, too, was snatched out of the air and trapped in the brunet's grip. "I told you to quit hitting me!" Timmy snapped, "What do you want from me? Everyone keeps bugging me; it's getting annoying!"

"You're the one just standing up here and staring while the rest of us are sitting around and waiting for Remy and Crocker to kill magic! _That's_ annoying!" Tootie shot back and yanked her arms free before folding them over her chest, glaring up at him over the rims of her glasses. Timmy glared back for a moment, then sighed and pressed the heel of one hand against one eye, trying to hold back a headache. Another moment more and he pulled his hand away, looking more exhausted than he had ever been before. He held the note in his hand out to Tootie.

"I wasn't just staring, Tootie. I was thinking." the brunet replied murmured, "About this. About **all** of this." Tootie took the note and opened it, reading through the childishly scrawled words. "Everything is so confusing. Taking down the Spires is helping the fairies and helping the world gain back magic and mana, but Anti-Cosmo found out that it's also going to reveal some kind of truth." he explained, "And apparently that's really bad. Wanda freaked out and said that we had to stop destroying the Spires." He leaned back against the wall behind him and sighed heavily. "I don't know what to do. How can I take down those things without destroying them so I can save the world without revealing whatever secret Anti-Cosmo was worried about?"

"Has it ever occurred to you that he might just be making it up to get you to stop?" Tootie asked thoughtfully, "I mean, with the Spires up, no fairies can come to Earth to stop the anti-fairies and bring them back up to their prison. And anti-fairies are immune to the Spires, so they have free reign." Timmy lifted his head to stare at her. "This is perfect for anti-fairies; maybe Anti-Cosmo knew that and made up this 'secret' to get you to stop wrecking the Spires."

The brunet blinked at her, then looked past her through the glass wall to the room beyond. Mint stood by the human-sized bed, gazing down with the same eternally gentle eyes at the bandaged anti-fairy lying silent under the white sheets. The rhythmic tones of the heart monitor sounded softly within the room, paired visually by the green line peaking at steady intervals on the monitor. In the waiting room, Anti-Wanda sat alone on a chair, hugging a stuffed doll as though it were her last lifeline, her pink eyes wide and shiny with tears. Timmy took all of that in, then slid a frown towards the raven-haired Goth standing before him.

"He can't be lying. Anti-Cosmo would never do anything that would hurt his wife, and Anti-Wanda is crying her heart out over what happened to him. There's no way he set himself up to look hurt just to get me to do what he wants." he finally defended, "I trust him; what happened to him was real. Somebody really did this to him, to keep him from giving me this message." He looked vaguely evasive. "Besides... Wanda and Cosmo know what the secret is, too. Wanda said so..." he mumbled, "They just won't tell me what it is."

"Then why didn't they just kill him?" Tootie asked suspiciously, "If whoever did this _really_ didn't want you to know what would happen if you destroyed all the Spires, wouldn't they just flat out kill Anti-Cosmo? And wouldn't Wanda and Cosmo tell you what the secret is themselves? Why didn't you wish for it?" There was a flicker of doubt that ran across the brunet's face, but it was quickly swept away.

"I don't know." Timmy finally murmured, "I don't know anything anymore. I can't do this by myself. I'm not a leader. Caleb, Danny; one of them would give me pointers, show me where to go, what to do." He slid down the wall until he was sitting on the floor. "I'm no Hero. I'm just following whoever looks like he knows what he's doing."

"But you plotted out the mission in the sewer without them! You _are_ a leader, Timmy; you just have to have more faith in yourself!" Tootie urged and sighed as she watched him just shrug listlessly. "You need a break. Some time away from all this." she added and put one hand out on his shoulder, hoping she wasn't blushing furiously, "Remember that date Chester said you had to take me out on? Why don't we just go out and spend the day together, like a couple of normal kids?" She waited for an answer as Timmy gazed almost blankly at his shoes. He blinked after a while and sighed.

"Normal. What's normal anymore for me?" he mumbled but stood up, "I can't focus on anything, not even to meditate. Maybe you're right. If I can just pretend to be normal for a while, maybe I can relax enough to get some kind of idea of what to do." He shook himself off, stretched out his limbs and back, then looked aside at the girl in time to see her quickly turn her head, a furious blush coloring her face. "Oookay. What's wrong with you?" he asked, confused.

"Nothing!" Tootie barked and covered her mouth. She pulled her hand away and managed a grin up at him. "So, where to?" she asked more normally.

"Let me tell Cosmo and Wanda where I'm going, then we'll just check out Dimmsdale until we find someplace interesting, I guess." the brunet returned and headed off towards the elevators, "I bet Wanda went to the training room to check on Cosmo, so let's go there."

* * *

The two fairies were in the training room, as Timmy suspected, but not for a quick check on one another. The young immortal slid open the door and looked in on them with Tootie at his side, blinking in surprise at the yelling match. Strange; Cosmo and Wanda did have their small spats, usually over something minor that was quickly forgiven and forgotten, but this was different. Timmy wasn't sure how, but it was just a feeling that this wasn't a normal lovers' quarrel. This was one of those arguments that had popped up in Cosmo's arsenal sometime after the first year they were together, back when he was still alive. The kind that tore into Wanda badly and left Timmy wondering if something was seriously wrong with the relationship. It usually took a few hours to recover from one of those fights, and Cosmo was always apologizing like mad when he regained his senses. Those spats had lessened greatly over the time he'd been living beyond death, so what suddenly brought this on again?

"Leave me alone!" Cosmo snapped at Wanda, "All day, it's just nag, nag, nag! What'd I do to you?"

"If you would just calm down and stop screaming at me, you'd know!" Wanda shrieked back, "We can't do this whole 'destruction of the Spires' thing anymore!"

"I don't care about that! I'm doing this for **me**! Now get out before I smash one of these tin cans on your fat head!"

"Stop calling me fat, you idiot!"

There was a burst of green magic light from Cosmo's wand, aimed directly at his wife. In a flash, her little body expanded to look like she'd been filled with helium. Her tiny wings unable to support the sudden weight gain, she dropped onto the floor in shock.

"Now I don't have call you fat! You can show everyone by yourself!" Cosmo hissed scathingly. Wanda flicked her wrist and her own magic changed her back to normal. She glared furiously at her husband.

"You stupid jerk! Take this!" she yelled and fired a beam of pink back at him. A burst of smoke and her husband was now a monkey, chattering in excited fury as he flapped his arms and clutched his wand in his tail.

"Whoa. They look mad." Tootie murmured inanely, eyes wide with shock and alarm, "Timmy! Do something!" The brunet just stood there, equally as stunned by the blasts of magic being traded between the couple. Finally, he yelled into the room.

_"Stop it!"_ he shouted and both fairies looked at him in surprise as Wanda fired off another beam of magic.

"Oof!" Cosmo grunted as he was thrown back onto the floor, tumbled for a bit, then came to a rest on his stomach, face twisted in an faint expression of pain. Wanda yelped and flew down to him, trying to help him as he got up on all fours and shook his head. He jerked away from her. "Don't touch me." he growled and finally got to his feet. His wings fluttered once before he made a quick about-face and marched away, leaving Wanda floating in shock.

"What's going on? What happened?" Timmy asked worriedly, running up to her, "Why were you guys fighting like that?" Wanda shook her head and sighed tiredly, hair frayed from the stress and excitement.

"It's nothing. Just fairy stuff." she replied, "What do you need, Sport?" The brunet looked unconvinced by the response.

"I'd like to know why Cosmo got so ticked off, but I bet neither of you are gonna tell me anything, huh?" Timmy returned in frustration, "I came to tell you that Tootie and I will be going out to help me clear my head. Maybe you two should also have some time to cool." He stood and folded his arms over his chest. "Cosmo, Wanda! I wish you two had the day off to go do whatever you feel like doing together!" he declared. The two fairies looked up at him in apprehension. "And don't come after me no matter what! I'm already dead, nothing's gonna hurt me anymore."

"If that's what you wish, Sweetie." Wanda sighed, lifting her wand.

"Idiot." Cosmo growled, but waved his own wand in sync with his wife's. The two fairies poofed out of the training room and Timmy turned back to the Goth.

"That should give them some time to cool off and get back into the flow of things." he remarked as the two of them headed back to the elevator, "I always hate seeing them fight, and this one looked like a bad one." He tapped his front teeth worriedly. "I wonder what started the fight in the first place?" he mused aloud, "I should have wished for that first."

* * *

Remy paced the balcony of his mansion in a fury. Why did it take so long for that idiot Bender to make the report that someone had been rifling through his records? Why did he take so long to tell him that Tootie might have been involved? Especially when, if Tootie was involved, Timothy Neogene had a glove-covered hand stuck in the pot! He stopped pacing and gripped the rail around the balcony, glaring out at the city. From where he stood, he could see hundreds of anti-fairies zipping back and forth, causing mayhem and misery everywhere they went. It was a miracle none of them came after him. Yet, he was still furious, for somewhere out there was a brunet, blue-eyed immortal plotting to do something that involved the sewers.

Was it possible that he knew about the underground network connections that linked the Spires together?

"Why, why, _why_ is this happening to me? And now of all times?" Remy fumed. He glared at the city again, then spun around and marched towards his computer, fully intent on opening another video conference call to Crocker. Juandissimo looked out the window at the anti-fairies, glancing aside as his godchild made his way to the desktop computer. Part of him wanted to just break down and reveal everything to Remy; surely the boy had the right to know who it was that was making him so miserable that all of the wishes he could grant wasn't even making a dent in it.

"Ah, Crocker, there you are. Have you received that metal shipment? Are you putting it to good use?" Remy began the conference once the retired teacher picked up the call.

"It was a rather substantial amount, and I'm adding it to the latest invention. This device will deal with young Timothy once and for all." Crocker returned with a sour expression, "Speaking of Timothy, he's much more resourceful than I originally credited him with. We've lost access to the servers of Spire Three." Remy stiffened and leaned forward.

"What?" he shrieked, "He's destroyed **another** Dark Spire? _Already?_"

"Not physically. He's managed to discover the underground network and severed the connections to Spire Three. The sewers were flooded with massive amounts of mouthwash. By the time the investigation teams were able to assess the damage, nothing could be done to salvage it." the teacher growled, "Those servers are isolated from the network and work on the nullification program has been set back by at least two months without their additional help." Remy stood up and slammed his fists onto the desk in rage.

"How is he getting so much power? He's some dead, orphaned brat! There's no way anyone can be given that much power!" he shrieked and shook in a fury, "I want it! I want that power! I want immortality! I want the power to manipulate the elements! I want the power to command other fairies! I want it all!"

"Yes, yes, that's all you care about, isn't it?" Crocker returned in an unimpressed tone, "Haven't you ever heard of 'You can't have everything you want'?"

"Don't lecture me, old man! Just get to work on re-establishing contact with that Spire and that special invention you promise shall rid me of that annoying immortal for good!" the blonde snapped back and cut the conference short, spinning around and storming back out to the balcony. A group of anti-fairies was already floating there, grinning at him. "Oh, what the bloody hell do **you** want?" he snapped at them as well.

"Whaddya think? That enough negative energy to revive Anti-Cosmo?" one of the antis asked another. A female eyed the blonde carefully and grinned back.

"If it isn't, it'll sure give him some jollies while he's snoozing away in ICU. Remy's misery is like some super-juiced candy to him!" she remarked and laughed, "This is, like, too dang perfect! The one guy our brainiac leader is dead-set on making pay up for what happened to Pink Hat back there, and he's gonna donate a megaton of energy to boost his power!" The anti-fairies whooped and held their wands out towards Remy.

"What? What are you flying rats talking about? What are you doing?" the young millionaire exclaimed, looking around in shock as a thick black aura surrounded him and was quickly drained away into the black star wands each anti-fairy gripped. Once they were done, they cackled amongst themselves and began to fly off, halted only by Juandissimo floating before them and aiming his own wand at the group.

"What did you _banditos_ do to my little godchild?" he demanded of them. One of the antis flew forward and grinned, folding his arms over his chest as he floated there cockily.

"Heh, nothing in comparison to what Anti-Cosmo would have done. All we did was just suck up some energy to run on. Nothing against either one of the copies of Da Rules, eh, fairy?" he returned haughtily.

"No bad luck?" Juandissimo asked suspiciously.

"Oh, no way, Mr. Turn-Tricks!" the female anti-fairy laughed cruelly, "We're savin' that little luxury for our boss and our current stand-in boss!" She waved her arms about joyfully, "They're gonna make your kid so freakin' miserable, Anti-Cosmo's sure to be right as rain in no time! Then, we're gonna make all you fairies pay for what happened fourteen years ago!" With that, the group laughed and anti-poofed away in shades of blue and black smoke. Juandissimo flew down to Remy, puzzled as the blonde looked around for any other antis that might have decided to drop on them as well.

"Fourteen years ago? I recall nothing special about fourteen years ago involving the anti-fairies." the fairy mused aloud.

"Stand-in boss? Juandissimo, this Anti-Cosmo fellow is leader of the anti-fairies, correct? Who would he entrust to fill in for him at any time?" Remy asked in confusion. His godfather shrugged, lost. The blonde rubbed his head, baffled by the antis' speech. "I don't understand what's going on. When did my attempts to take over the world become so complicated? It used to be so simple and work flawlessly, this plan to perfect the Spires for global use." he wondered aloud, "Everything was going so well; when did Fate decide to turn against me?"

"You can change Fate, but you cannot sway Destiny from her path." Juandissimo murmured, gazing out at the city, "And one who was destined for this city can continue after Fate destroys them." He blinked as he noticed his godchild stare up at him, then rubbed his own head with a sheepish laugh. "Ah, don't mind my idle musings, _amigo_! They mean nothing!" Remy frowned, but said nothing else, just turned and went back into his room to finish his fuming and raging.

* * *

Master Control Spire~

Crocker huffed in irritation once the video call ended. As much as he found the new Timmy to be entertaining and worthy as an adversary, this last attack left him in a black mood. Since when did a child have the understanding to do such... professional... damage to an enemy stronghold? This made things far too easy for him; there would be little to force the child to train harder, work harder, become stronger in his magic. And if he continued at that rate, there wouldn't be much pleasure in draining him of it all to resurrect Timmy Turner.

Especially if he wired the device with its 'aionis' components to redirect that power to the reborn Heart. If he couldn't get enough power to him, there would be little to no chance of Turner overthrowing that blonde brat out there in his safe little mansion.

Crocker looked back at the chamber he was building, lifting an eyebrow at the sight of the gleaming metal that shimmered in their places on the construct. Aionis; that was the term stamped on each crate of metal that had suddenly appeared in his storage rooms. So the magical metal had a name of its own. Handy, but it told him nothing of its properties. He tested it, hooked up a sample to a device holding the strange violet crystal and flipped the switch. To his delight, the sparks from the gem touched onto the metal, flowed down the metal in a shimmering wave and surrounded a dead battery. A test of the battery confirmed that it had been re-energized by the contact with metal and gem. The aionis had the ability to channel energy from one source to another, perfect for use in his magic draining chamber.

"Grow stronger, New Timmy; I want all the power you can muster to be given to the Heart of Dimmsdale." he whispered, looking down at the image of the pink-hatted boy he held in his hands, "The Heart that will revive this city and spare it from oblivion. Am I the only one who knows the truth; the truth of who you are to this city, Turner? Am I the only one who understands that your death condemned us all to follow you to the next world? Where you go, Dimmsdale has no choice but to follow. But if I bring you back to this world, stronger, greater, and more powerful than anyone could dream, Dimmsdale will thrive and grow on your power." He smiled and gazed heavenward. "Turner, when you return, everything you ever desired will be given to you in a heartbeat, now that the city understands it is nothing without you."

* * *

Streets of Dimmsdale~

"Not too far. Closer. No, more like..." Timmy muttered, stepping one way, then another, eyeing the space before him critically. He paused, reached one hand out tentatively, flinched, and passed his fingertips across the street before the toe of his shoe, turning a strip of asphalt to a pink color. "Right there. That's it."

Tootie rolled her eyes but came forward to peer down at the strip of pink. She looked up at the brunet and lifted an eyebrow at him.

"This is where the boundary is? The space between a magic zone and an anti-magic zone?" she asked. The brunet nodded, arms folded over his chest as he looked out at the city. "And stepping across this would...?"

"Make me wanna hurl, curl up and die again." Timmy returned, "But not for about ten minutes. It takes a while for the effects to really build up, but the time limit for me being able to function at all in an anti-magic zone has begun to shrink." He looked up at the Spires in the distance. "I guess that's proof that the Spires are improving the nullification field more and more. If this keeps up, I won't even be able to step beyond the boundary without getting the magic ripped outta me."

"Ew." Tootie muttered and pointed elsewhere, "Well, how about we go to that shop over there? It's not near the boundary and they've got some wicked cool new charms I've been wanting to check out." The brunet blinked at her, followed her arm and tilted his head.

"A Goth shop? Man, you really **are** taking after Sam." he remarked and headed for the store with her. Tootie smiled and shook her head.

"I've been like this since you... um, left." she corrected, "So I already had a thing for these kinds of places." She rubbed her arms and looked faintly somber. "I couldn't stand the sight of pink anymore; it all reminded me of you. Anytime I saw pink, I just broke down and cried. So I made myself hate it, threw out everything in my room that had it... except for that action figure you gave me." Timmy blinked at her, then lit up in understanding.

"Oh, that Crimson Chin figure?" he asked and she nodded.

"The one that had so many 'I hate Vicky' phrases and just couldn't break no matter what she did to it. I never could get how it was able to do that, but now I think I do." the Goth murmured and a smile tugged at her mouth, "You wished for it to be like that for me, didn't you?" She smiled wider as his blush answered the question. "What was it that you said when you gave it to me? It was going to be our secret of love, right? The kind of thing a boy would say to a girl to distract her with happy fantasies while he made his escape..."

"Actually, I wanted you to have it on the condition that you didn't follow me home ever again but... I guess..." the brunet muttered and the blush got deeper as he shot a quick glance at her before returning his gaze to the street, "Did I... really say that?" Tootie nodded.

"But, like I said, you probably didn't mean it." she sighed as they entered the shop, "After all, I wasn't anywhere near as pretty as Trixie back then, right?" The boy beside her jerked his head up and stared at her in shock.

"No!" he exclaimed and flinched as the other shoppers turned annoyed glares at him, "Th-that's not it... I mean..." Timmy rubbed his head, puzzled as he continued tripping over his own words. He sighed and shook his head. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, so I gave it to you to make you happy. I just said that other stuff so you wouldn't know that... that's why I did it." he finally mumbled, "You shouldn't beat yourself down because of me. I'm not... really... all that worth it..." Tootie picked out a silver charm and held it up before her, studying the twisted figures of dragons in some strange design.

"And you shouldn't do the same. You did it to make me happy, even if you yourself weren't happy or liked the idea of it. If that doesn't prove you deserve the title of Heart of Dimmsdale, then why are you still doing it?" she asked and turned around, placing the charm just below the brunet's neck, "Hmm, no, this doesn't match." She put it back and began picking among the rest of the charms. "So, tell me how New York is; was it fun to live there?"

"Huh?"

"I said we were going to go out like normal kids. So be normal. What's New York like? I've never been there." Tootie went on and picked out another charm, holding it in place of the first, "Nope, still not right."

"To be honest, I haven't really seen as much of New York as I would have liked. Most of my time was spent in the Archive building or hanging out with Daniel and Phantom in Rockefeller Center." Timmy returned and winced at the strange look Tootie gave him, "Well, you know how Caleb builds clones of ancient and modern Heroes and stuff? Well, Daniel and Phantom are both robot copies. One is a replica of my cousin, Danny Fenton. The other is a copy of Danny Phantom."

"Why would he copy both of them?" Tootie asked curiously, holding out another charm.

"My cousin is a big help to Danny Phantom, so Caleb counts them both as Heroes. There are two sets of them in New York, the original pair and the current set. The newer Phantom is what's taking Danny Phantom's place in Amity Park until Caleb changes him back." the brunet answered and looked glum again, "It's been so long. Will he ever go back to the way he was?" He closed his eyes and shook his head. "I just have to keep believing that he will; it's just a mana overwrite. If anyone can fix mana, Caleb can. I just have to keep putting it in my head, the image of the Danny Phantom I know overwriting this messed-up version."

"So you lived in the Archive the whole time. What did you do for fun?" Tootie quickly changed the subject, testing two more charms against the dark blue of Timmy's shirt.

"Besides making wishes to keep my mind off the fact that my heartbeat could just up and stop at any random time and I wouldn't even know it unless someone said so? Not much." Timmy laughed dryly and shut one eye in thought, "Although, Danny would take me on trips through the Ghost Zone to visit a few friends here and there. It took a lot of work to get on the Ghost Writer's good side again, but that guy has some of the coolest stories ever if you just make the effort to sit and listen to him. And sometimes other Heroes come to visit Caleb and I get to hang out with them when they have some extra downtime. That's always fun, especially if you know how to annoy a Hero." He tilted his head as Tootie tried several more charms. "What exactly are you doing? You've been putting those things on me for quite a while now."

"I wanna see which ones look good on you. You dress like a Goth, may as well go all the way, right?" she replied with a grin.

"I am **not** a Goth, okay? I just dress like this so no one gets the idea of who I am." Timmy sighed, "Can't you get that?" Tootie shrugged and wandered off towards the book section. He followed her and sighed again. Much as he didn't want to admit it to himself, the 'date' was working. He could feel himself relaxing some, the stress and anxiety of all that happened slowly melting away for later thoughts.

She picked through various books, remarking idly on which authors she liked, which subjects she found most fascinating, asking if some of the 'magic spells' written about in others actually worked or not. Timmy couldn't help but laugh at a few.

"Okay, that one _does_ work, but don't tell anyone else. Caleb gets ticked off by people suddenly running down animals just to get ingredients for a stupid spell that doesn't really do much." he whispered, "And that one over there doesn't work at all. It's just mumbo-jumbo. That one comes close, but it's using the wrong channel."

"What about wicca?" Tootie asked, holding up another book.

"That one? You'd have to ask Caleb, but he doesn't talk much about it. The furthest you'd probably get is a face." he returned and grimaced, sticking his tongue out. "Like that." he finished, "If the magic isn't mana-based, he usually turns his nose up at it. Kinda snooty, if you ask me." Tootie laughed and he grinned, making several more faces for her until she couldn't hold back a snort.

"Oh, God, now look what you did!" she blurted out with a reddened face and turned her back on him, still snickering behind her hands. She finally calmed, then looked back at him slyly. "How about... angels? Do those exist?"

"Depends on what kind of angels you're asking about. Caleb's an angel, a mechanical one, but still an angel." Timmy returned, picking up a book and flipping through it, "Derris-Kharlan has a few angels, but they're just half-elves wearing some weird rock that makes them out like angels."

Tootie drifted from the books to the clothing section, humming to herself as she ran her hands along the assorted black and darkly colored fabrics that surrounded her. She picked one outfit out and held it over herself, spinning around as the young immortal set down the book and caught up to her. With a smile, she tilted her head almost coyly.

"What do you think?" she asked, mentally surprised at the idea of her flirting like this with him, "Is it me?" He blushed again and rubbed the back of his head.

"Um... it... it looks like... it would show... a lot..." he stammered bashfully and swallowed hard, "It looks nice." He paused and suddenly gave her a suspicious glare. "What are you doing to me?" he demanded softly. Tootie blinked at him, surprised.

"What do you mean?" she asked and he waved a hand at the clothing racks, then at her.

"This. All of this. I can't focus here." he replied with a faintly annoyed tone, "I try to think and it all goes scrambled." He glared at her again. "You must be doing something." Tootie huffed indignantly and scowled back at him over her glasses.

"You have some serious trust issues, Timothy Neogene, if you think I have to do _something_ to you for any stupid reason." she growled and turned her back on him again, shoving the outfit back among the racks. "If you don't want to be here with me, just leave. Nobody's stopping you. Nobody has the **power** to." she added and glared at him over her shoulder, "Just answer me this. Would you be this pissy if it was _Trixie_ making you feel unfocused?"

"Yes." Timmy returned flatly. The Goth looked startled by the admission, turning around to take him in and blink in shock. "Yes, I would be just as mad if Trixie was doing it." he repeated for her sake, "I don't like _anyone_ doing this to me. Keeping a clear head, for me, is all that stands between my freedom to at least live like I want to and being trapped in some lab somewhere with scientists doing whatever they want to me." He headed for the back wall and leaned against it, watching her impassively. "I'm **dead**, Tootie, remember? And as such, I should be buried, decomposing, my soul wandering the land of the dead for all eternity or something. But I'm not. I'm walking the earth, untouchable by Death, able to withstand anything that could be fatal to your average human being." he whispered darkly, "Any slip of my guard and I'll disappear into the clutches of people who would do anything to make my power theirs, for the sake of greed, their own selfish desires. So whatever it is you're doing to me, please stop it. I don't plan on staying in Dimmsdale all that long anyway."

"Where are you going?" Tootie asked in a soft, horrified voice, eyes wide with alarm. Timmy looked aside for a moment, then lifted his gaze to hers.

"I told you I've been thinking while I was in ICU. I thought about everyone and everything, about all the stuff that's happened because of me." he murmured, "I decided that, after I've finished destroying the Spires and restored magic to Dimmsdale and Danny gets better, I'm going to ask him to reopen The Veil Between Life And Death. I want to find Death and ask him to take me back." He gave a small shrug. "It will set Cosmo and Wanda free, it will let Caleb and Danny continue their lives without worrying over some inexperienced kid revealing their secrets, and it will restore order to Nature. Besides, I was murdered, right? Someone wanted me dead, and for the sake of ensuring _someone_ is happy, I will stay dead." he added and managed a small smile, "Besides, I'm kinda tired of all this. Of knowing that, because I'm still here, people are getting hurt. If I die, for good this time, then their pain will end." Tootie scowled and grabbed his hand, yanking him along as she stormed out the shop.

Grumbling and growling under her breath, she dragged the startled teen down the street towards a bus stop. Once there, she waited for a bus to arrive, then dragged him onto it, still growling to herself as it took them all the way to Dimmsdale Cemetery. Pulling Timmy off, she marched into the area and made a beeline for the boy's grave. Stopping only a few yards from the tombstone, she halted and pointed at it.

"Take a good long look at it, Timmy, and tell me again that you dying will stop **their** pain." she snapped at the brunet. Timmy blinked in astonishment, watching the gathering of adults and children standing around his grave with assorted flowers and toys in their arms. He'd seen visitors to the site before, but not in such large groups. The people ignored the anti-fairies that passed over them, pulling up black auras that constantly reformed around them and only rushing away when the visitors settled their offerings onto the grave.

One child reached out and passed a hand over the dates on the tombstone, then looked up at his mother and pointed at himself. The woman nodded and the boy hung his head, sobbing as she knelt to comfort him. Timmy looked to Tootie for an explanation and she gave him a deadpan expression.

"It's hard to have little kids learn that they can die at such a young age. You have no idea how much that changes them; they lose half their dreams that way. The eyes of those who honestly believe that the Heart of Dimmsdale is gone forever are just as dead as the body in that coffin." she told him flatly, "Your bringing down the Spires is slowly restoring the life to this city, and to its people, but if you leave and die once they're gone, who can say that Dimmsdale will _stay_ saved?" Timmy looked back at the mourners, confused. "A Hero who saves the world only once isn't much of a Hero. Nothing lasts forever, not even peace. If you stop Remy and Crocker, then go away, who will stop them from doing this all over again? Team Turner? We're only making a dent in them because you're the one leading us. Your power is all that is keeping us together, because we believe in you. Our faith in you is what gives **us** power." She pulled her dagger free and walked forward, then abruptly turned around and pointed it directly at him as his eyes went wide at her actions.

"But then you don't care, do you?" Tootie went on harshly, "You just want it your way. That makes you **worse** than Remy. What good is all the training you're doing, when you're just gonna throw it away in the end?" She tossed her head back at the group of people. "They are just as dead as you, without their hopes and dreams. They only live _because_ of you, because they don't want to forget you. They tell stories of the little boy that brought them happiness because he tried so hard to just live life the way he wished to live, to survive the harshness of life with the love of those who cared about him. They looked up to him in secret, wanted to be just like him so they can survive reality themselves.

"Are you going to be so selfish as to destroy that by giving up your new life like this? Because if you do, I'll be _damned_ if I end up like them. I'm going to fight on with or without you, you stupid buck-toothed bastard."

The brunet stared at her, taken aback by her words. This wasn't like the Tootie he remembered, who stalked him for reasons he hadn't cared to know at the time. This was someone who seemed to have moved on past him, decided that waiting for him, depending on him for validation, was pointless. This was someone who would stand by herself, regardless of whether or not he was there. She didn't need him; she only kept him close to be sure he was there for others, the others who _did_ need him to be there.

This Tootie had her own power.

"So what's it gonna be, Timmy?" she hissed, "You gonna run away again like some sissy little punk, or are you gonna stand and fight like me? Fight for as long as it takes to keep Dimmsdale from crumbling to pieces? Fight until the last breath in our bodies is ripped away by something that has to **prove** it was stronger than all the magic we possess?" She ignored the sudden blush that was creeping along the brunet's face as he shrank back from her. "I want an answer. I haven't got all day and if you make me wait, so help me, I **will** throw a blast of _Holy Lance_ on your stupid ass!"

"All right! Fine! I'll stay! Just stop threatening me!" Timmy yelled back in exasperation and rubbed at his face, "Geez, when the heck did you get all tough like that?"

"When I decided I could do better things with my time than try to throw myself at you like Miss Popular does." Tootie returned irritably, sheathing the dagger and walking towards a nearby tree to take a break on the bench sitting in its shade. She lifted an eyebrow as he hurried to sit beside her and stared down at his boots, the blush still there on his face.

"I... I don't think I've ever seen you like that before." he murmured, "It was... kinda cool." Tootie blinked at him uncertainly, then looked distant as some tiny feeling flickered within her, a sensation of... victory? Why would she be feeling that way over what he said?

"Well, if you would just think about what you say and do, I wouldn't have to be turning into a little Goth bitch to get you on track again." she stammered back, trying to sort out her emotions and failing at it, "I mean, everyone keeps saying that they've begun believing in their dreams and stuff since they started hanging around you, and that was way before they learned you were really Timmy Turner and not just some guy named Timothy Neogene." She fidgeted on her seat, digging the edge of her boot into the grass. "I just want them to keep believing in themselves, so I'm going to make sure that you understand that you're doing lots of good being alive and with us, than just by shooting a fireball or something at a Dark Spire." She paused and glanced at him. "Were you really gonna do that? Go and find Death on your own?" she asked in a whisper. He nodded slowly, a sudden melancholy expression on his face. "Timmy?" she murmured and waited until he looked at her in mild wonder, "What is it like? To die?"

He stared at her in surprise, then seemed to retreat into himself, hunching up his shoulders and gazing down at his hands in an effort to focus on something else. Was it something really bad? Maybe she shouldn't have asked about it. Tootie opened her mouth to tell him to forget it, but he sighed and lifted his head, gazing skyward as he leaned back against the bench.

"It started off cold. Everything was cold and dark, like you were frozen and there's no chance of ever getting warm again, and so dark, it's worse than a black hole. Then when light _does_ show up, it's... well, it's beautiful." Timmy began softly and closed his eyes at the memory, a faint expression of longing crossing his face, "Like you're surrounded by vast walls of white and gold, but they're not solid. Mist. It's like mist, and it's all around you and its shining and shimmering. It's bright, but at the same time, it's not. It's beautiful and peaceful and you want to stay there forever. There were so many other souls there, some I recognized, but they all looked so happy and I think I was happy there, too." The blissful expression faded to a frown.

"But then I was being carried away by someone, just scooped up and carted off. I didn't know who it was, but then I looked up and saw into the black hood the guy was wearing and all I saw was a skull." He opened his eyes and the frown deepened. Timmy glanced over at the Goth beside him to be sure she heard clearly what he was going to say next. "That's about when I realized a couple of things. First, I got the idea that this was Death carrying me away from all my friends and family. The next thing I realized was that I didn't care." he whispered.

Tootie gasped softly and leaned closer to him, a horrified expression on her face. He held her gaze for a moment, then looked away and nodded slowly.

"All my emotions had just seemed to be stripped away somehow and here was Death collecting me to take me somewhere else. I knew I should have been scared out of my mind, I knew I should have been feeling something, but there was nothing. All I knew was that wherever Death was taking me, it was away from that beautiful place and I couldn't tell if I missed it or not." he went on and closed his eyes, "We walked away for what seemed like just a short while. That's when I saw Danny."

"Your cousin?"

"No, Danny Phantom. He showed up in that shining place and I thought that maybe he had been killed, too, and he was going to join me on whatever journey I was being carried along on. Part of me knew that the idea of it should hurt because he had things he had to do back in the living world, but I didn't feel anything about it. I didn't even care that he was there because, without my emotions, he was just another wandering soul to me." Timmy murmured, feeling tears start to trickle down his face, "He started teasing Death, firing the Ghost Ray at him to get him to drop me and some of the shots got kinda close to me. I thought that would make me mad, I knew it should, but again, nothing. I had stopped caring about everything. I didn't even care enough to cry over the fact that I stopped caring. It was all gone from me." He paused, then took a deep breath before continuing.

"Danny finally got Death distracted enough to pull me out of his arms and flew off as fast as he could back to wherever he came from. I should have been happy, I should have been excited, because part of me knew that Danny was saving me, but all I did was just sit there in his arms, not caring. We passed over the mist and the light again and I felt that peacefulness again, like I could just rest there and relax. I think Danny might have felt it, too, 'cause he kinda slowed down, but then he sped back up and we left the mist and I stopped caring again. Then there was this bright light from a hole or something in the air and I could see through it, but I didn't see much because we passed through the hole really fast, and there was this sudden rush of air and heat and I felt like something was forcing me into a tiny cramped space and all I wanted to do was scream." The brunet managed a slight grin, reflecting on that bit of memory. "So I did. I screamed as loud as I could, as long as I could, just this awful painful screaming. And everyone was around me, crying or looking worried or tired, and I just kept screaming. I don't know how they could have stood that. I would have have told myself to shut up already if I was them. Because, you see, the reason why I screamed was because I got my emotions back and it all came down on me like some big weight. The pain of it all was too much, so I screamed." He opened his eyes, laughed shortly, then smiled over at Tootie.

"I found out what that place was when I finally got over myself. Danny Phantom told me. It was The Veil. All that time I had been wandering in The Veil Between Life And Death, just all caught up in how beautiful it was and losing all my memories and emotions to it. He said it was a first stop for all those who passed on, a place to strip away the bad stuff from you once you died, and your emotions, too, so you didn't get all freaked out over moving on. There might have been more to it, but he didn't want to talk about it anymore." Timmy murmured and sighed, resting back against the bench as he closed his eyes once more. "And that's what it was like to die. And get brought back to life, but you didn't really ask about that. I kinda got carried away. Sorry." he added with a half-grin.

"No, I'm sorry for asking. I didn't know how bad it was for you." Tootie murmured, looking down at the grass shamefully. She blinked as she felt his arms wrap around her in a fierce hug.

"Nah. It's okay. I kinda feel better now, talking about it and not just holding it in. Danny didn't ask me, 'cause he already knows kind of how it feels to die, but his 'death' is different. And Caleb doesn't get the idea of it because his memories of not existing are a little scrambled." Timmy returned softly, "And it wasn't bad, not all of it. I just couldn't care enough about anything else to bother fighting for myself. But now that you've told me about everyone needing me here to keep fighting for their own lives, I'll have to make sure I keep caring." He pulled away and smiled at her. "Thanks, Tootie. This date wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Let's go back to the Tower and start figuring out our next step." The two stood up, grinned at each other, then linked arms and walked off, ready to face the next Spire as the anti-fairies overhead soared on to find new sources of negative energy.


	2. Chapter 2

2

Archives of the Twin Blades, New York City~

Sam yawned as she flipped through a magazine, waiting for the latest reports from Tucker and Caleb to come back to her as she sat by the specially designed Ghost Shield that held Danny Phantom captive. Ever since pulling him from the Ghost Zone and out of the clutches of an assortment of ghost relics, the halfa had not changed out of Phantom form even once. He sat on a bed made for him, scowling out at her with the flimsy black gag wrapped around his head sealing his mouth closed. Little more than a week had gone by and little progress had been made in returning him to his normal, Heroic status. Clad still in the villainous colors of red and black, the half-ghost made no attempts to respond to any offerings of friendship or kindness, only sat there in eternal silence, glaring at them all.

The Goth yawned again, then looked up at her boyfriend to check on him, gazing sadly back as Danny only narrowed his eyes at her further. She had seen those same cruel eyes before, the evil crimson that had gleamed with the promise of inflicting pain, but never for this long, with this intensity. Silently, she cursed the evil ghost that had done this to her beloved, furious that Dark Danny had escaped the confines of the Fenton Thermos, wherever the damn thing had been stored, and did this to him. All because of that loophole in the time stream, she and Danny had to suffer through this. It just wasn't fair.

"Don't worry. We'll have you back to your old self soon enough." Sam whispered, hoping that Caleb had done enough research on mana correction to risk another exposure to the powers of the Eternal Sword Pin. The halfa only glared at her before wincing as a shimmer of light passed over him. Sam stood up, ready to call for help, when she paused, watching in shock as the blue-white ring of Danny's transformation ability bloomed around the halfa's waist. It split in two and passed over him in opposite directions.

It didn't change him into Fenton form.

Sam blinked as the light faded and peered closer at him as the halfa settled back down and looked down at his hands in vague surprise. He looked relatively unchanged, until she looked at his hands along with him. The gloves had been altered a bit. She blinked, rubbed her eyes, then checked again. No, the change was there. They used to have sharp lengths of stiff cloth running along the outer edge of the gloves, reminiscent of comic book villain outfits, but now they were gone. She stood back, puzzled. This had happened once before, but there had been no physical change, just a sudden change in Danny's reaction to being let out of the Fenton Thermos or the isolation chamber. Rather than destroy whatever he laid eyes on, he had simply floated there, looking irritated.

"Whatever it is that's doing this for you," she whispered, pressing her hands against the shimmering blue-tinted dome that separated her from the halfa, "I hope it keeps doing it. Maybe it will change you back to who you were." The phantom looked up at her, then resumed his glare, folding his hands back onto his lap as though completely forgetting the change that had been made.

* * *

Ivory Tower~

Team Turner gathered around the conference table, plotting and planning as the doors slid open and Timmy and Tootie entered the room. The group looked up at them, most with puzzled but expectant faces. Timmy looked around at them all, gave Tootie a grin and nod, then made his way to the head of the table.

"Anti-Wanda! Can you show up for a second?" he called out and the anti-fairy popped into the room, clutching a partially eaten sandwich in her feet.

"Hey, ya'll! What can Ah dooz fer ya?" she asked cheerfully.

"How's Anti-Cosmo doing?" the brunet asked and Anti-Wanda's smile grew wider.

"Aw, shucks, Sugarsnack! He's been twitchy ever since that last buncha antis showed up with a buttload of energy fer him!" she laughed, "He's even started healing up a little! Might take a while for him to wakey up all the way, but my Anti-Cozzie'll be back to makin' babies cry 'fores you know it!"

"Glad to hear it. You can go on back and watch over him. I'm gonna work on making Remy even more miserable so he'll have something to look forward to when he recovers." Timmy returned brightly and Anti-Wanda waved her hands happily.

"Aw, ain'tcha the sweetest little guy ever? No wonders Anti-Cozzie loves ya so much! Ya gots just as much dark in ya as ya do that icky light stuff!" she declared and anti-poofed out of the room. Timmy blinked in surprise, then rubbed his head.

"Um, I'm a Hero; Heroes don't **have** darkness." he corrected too late, "Anti-Cosmo... likes me? I just thought he was trying to manipulate me and junk." He shook his head and turned back to the group, "Anyway, what's been going on? Still working on a plan to destroy the next Spire?"

"Yeah, we're thinking of going with the same plan as before. Hit up the control units and nullifiers to keep the magic-users safe, then overload the servers by messing with the remaining units once the controllers are gone." Chester told him, rolling out a printed map of Dark Spire Three. He pointed at the markings on the paper. "The layout is pretty much the same, so all we have to do is just keep our eyes peeled for any new tricks that it might have decided to 'learn' after watching us in the last attack. We just don't know when to do the actual assault."

"Two weeks." Timmy said with all confidence, "In two weeks, we'll attack the next Spire." The group looked up at him in surprise.

"Why so long?" A.J. asked in confusion, "We can do it in less than a week. Heck, give us all three days at least to rest and we'll take it out before the end of next week!"

"We have the time to fully rest. The damage we did to the network connections isn't something that can be patched up real easy, what with cutting out huge chunks on two ends and then flooding what was left with mouthwash." the brunet remarked with a grin, "Besides, we need that time to get Victoria and Chip trained if they plan on fighting with us, right?" He looked to the two adults and they nodded eagerly.

"Any chance I get to trash somebody's junk without having to worry about cops is a good one in my book!" Victoria crowed and rubbed her hands together, "Two weeks is all I need to bust out all my old street brawlin' moves and get my hands on some kick-ass new weapons!"

"I could use the time getting used to being out of the sewers again. Musical creativity could use some work and, hey, if anyone can help me get more target practice in with my awesome Teeth Fu, that'd be rockin'!" Chip declared brightly, gesturing and spinning in his chair as though he hadn't aged a bit since the four years he was last seen as a teen singing sensation.

"On top of that, we need to make two more sets of the magitech armor for them. We can't just send them off into a battle without some protection." Timmy added and looked heavenward, a vaguely worried expression flickering over his face. "I just hope Anti-Cosmo forgives me for having to break a promise. I know he doesn't want me to destroy the Spires anymore, all because of some truth getting revealed. And I know Wanda won't like it either, but it has to be done. Whatever gets revealed, we'll deal with it later. Right now, we have to save Dimmsdale and the world from this."

"Or find a way to calm down the whole place. The city's in a constant state of panic and Lord only knows how it is Dimmsdale is keeping the fact that it's under siege by an army of anti-fairies a secret from the rest of the States." A.J. remarked dryly, tapping at his laptop, "Considering the panic, the President should have declared a state of emergency here and sent the Coast Guard in, or the Army. Is somebody doing something to cover the fact that Dimmsdale's infested by antis?"

"Probably Jorgen's handiwork." Apollo filled in, touching down on the tabletop and walking along it with his hands behind his back, a pensive frown on his face, "If anti-fairies are discovered worldwide, then that blows the cover on fairies and we'll all get pulled back double time." He paused and looked up at the brunet. "And Jorgen absolutely doesn't want anyone from the fairy military coming down here." Timmy lifted an eyebrow at that. "Eh, conflict in interests. Fairy business, you get the idea. You probably don't get politics."

"I get it all right. I just don't like it." Timmy returned and nodded, "But, yeah... You're right; somebody's covering up the fact that anti-fairies are here. With them doing all this energy gathering, we can't really risk an attack without sending all of Dimmsdale into a spiral we won't be able to save it from."

"So then what can we do until it looks safe? What do we do for those two weeks?" Trixie asked uncertainly and Sanjay waved his hand eagerly.

"We can continue our investigation into Timmy's murder!" he exclaimed, "By going to the site of the original crime!" The group hissed at him as Victoria and Chip both whipped their heads around to stare at him, then up at the brunet, their eyes wide with emotion. Timmy seemed to deflate.

"Oh, I was hoping to avoid this..." he moaned as the two adults leaped out of their chairs with near inhumane shrieks.

_"Murdered?"_ they screamed, "You were _murdered_?" Timmy flinched and held up his hands, hoping to calm the two of them down.

"I'm gonna **kill** him!" Victoria snarled, hands curled up claw-like as her eyes suddenly went vivid with fury, a disturbing froth collecting in her mouth, "I'm gonna **rip** that punk gray kid limb from limb and I'm gonna **kill** him!"

"If you thought I was in the fight before, I am **seriously** pumped to dish damage out to somebody now!" Chip added in as equally a malevolent growl as the carrot-top beside him, eyes narrowed dangerously, "**Who** did this? **Who** took the Heart of Dimmsdale from us?" The brunet watched them both fume and rage with a deadpan expression, lower lip jutting out in a pout as his eyes narrowed slowly at their continuing declarations of revenge and retribution. Finally, he slammed both fists onto the table, body erupting in a wild aura of brilliant white light tinted with pale pink, and let out a feral shriek of his own that immediately shut everyone in the room up and had them all instinctively move several inches away from him.

_"Will everyone lay off of Francis already? Stop trying to kill each other for no reason!"_ the immortal raged and shot glares at each member of the team to be sure they understood him, then straightened and let the light fade to nonexistence. He ran a hand through his hair, took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, then spoke in a calmer tone. "I came here for the sole purpose of preventing other innocent people from dying. Turns out I didn't die from an accident; the fall was set up so that I could be killed by a turn of the jungle gym. Francis is just as much a victim as I am." he told them, "Please, calm down and don't do anything that could hurt Dimmsdale more. Whoever murdered me made sure to make it look like Francis was the bad guy. He was just a scapegoat; I forgive him because he really had nothing to do with it. I ask you all to do the same." The group looked up at him with mixed emotions, the majority of which was wariness, before finally settling down and nodding.

"Someone murdered the Heart of Dimmsdale. I'll forgive the punk gray kid, but I want a piece of the **real** guy who made us all suffer!" Victoria grumbled, folding her arms over her chest as she stood up, "So I'm gonna start my training right now, if nobody's got issues with that." Timmy sighed and shook his head.

"Whatever will make you feel better, Victoria." he remarked.

"Don't call me that." the woman growled between her teeth, eyes still flashing with fury, "This city was seriously slacking off if some jerk can sneak in on **my** watch and kill off the biggest money-maker I had at the age of sixteen!" Startling the group with her sudden change in attitude towards her name, she stormed to the door. Once there, however, she paused and pulled her hair free of its business-like bun before quickly tying the tresses back up into a familiar ponytail. The mere silhouette of the hairstyle could make children under the age of twelve seek useless shelter in a corner of their rooms and it had not been seen in the four years since Timmy Turner's death. The woman turned back to grin viciously at the brunet as Chip leaped up and joined her at the doorway, a determined smile on his own face. "Better let the bad guys know... Icky Vicky's back in the game!" Vicky declared and walked out, her signature maniacal laughter ringing in the halls as she and Chip vanished to begin combat training.

* * *

Ivory Tower~

The days passed in a new routine and the only true bump in the road had been Timmy's revised orders to the anti-fairies to continue collecting energy but try to keep themselves hidden as much as possible to avoid stirring up more panic than necessary. Otherwise, most of Team Turner's time and efforts were put to solving the mystery of Timmy's murder. Between getting Chip and Vicky ready for combat and making occasional calls to New York to check on both the new magitech armor sets and Danny Phantom's condition (which was improving only a bit and at random times), they had nearly forgotten the local threat that was the reason the Dark Spires existed to begin with.

But **he** didn't.

So the shock of having an explosion so close by and feeling the Ivory Tower tremble at the sudden blow completely took them by surprise. With everyone rushing to figure out what happened, what was hit and if anyone was hurt, Timmy raced to a nearby window to look out and find out what caused the blast. He narrowed his eyes at a blonde figure standing by a tank painted all in white with the black spade symbol plastered on its sides, the massive gun aimed directly at the Tower. Remy Buxaplenty was making a bold move, attacking the Ivory Tower in broad daylight. The Tower had an engraving in Timmy's ten-year-old image on the side of the building, placing it under the protection of both Fairy World and Dimmsdale itself. Attacking it would bring the wrath of the citizens down on Remy's head in a heartbeat.

Provided they weren't busy freaking out at the surge of bad luck besieging them.

"And I wondered what happened to the ammunition that he was supposed to be booby-trapping his anti-magic traps with." the brunet remarked and looked back at Cosmo and Wanda as they fluttered about in a panic. The couple had seemed to have gotten over whatever caused their earlier fight and focused entirely on trying to convince Timmy out of his plan to pursue the destruction of the Spires, with no success. "Guys! You stay here and help the rest of the team assess damages! Everyone! Calm down and get to protected sections of the Tower for safety!" he ordered sharply, pulling a pair of Fenton Phones from his pocket and clipping them on, "Tootie! Go look after Anti-Cosmo for me, please! I can't let anything Remy does put his life in danger!"

"Got it!" the Goth declared and raced out of the room with the rest of the teens as they scurried to find better armored rooms within the Ivory Tower. Timmy looked back out the window and tightened his mouth. Looks like he was going to have another chat with his old rival. Taking a deep breath and hoping that his imagination could manipulate mana for the attempt, he leaped out the window towards the young millionaire.

Remy looked up at him in shock and the brunet grinned. The tricky part was pulling off the crazy entrance. Flipping over in the air to land feet first, he mentally called up the mana of the air around him to support his weight.

_"Volare Silentium."_ he whispered, his mind working furiously to weave the ribbons of green mana around himself in a personal cyclone that landed him gently on his feet. Now the blonde looked stunned. Timmy swept a hand aside, brushing the last of the ribbons back into the mana stream as he allowed a small smile to grow on his face. "Well, well. Here comes the little mortal boy, looking for trouble from the world." he greeted and folded his arms over his chest, "Can I ask why the heck you decided to knock on my door with armor piercing missiles?"

Remy gaped at him for a moment longer, then shook himself off and jerked a thumb at himself, dressed in the white armor and logo that mimicked the magitech armor Team Turner possessed.

"My Spires are completely off-limits to you, you mongrel, and yet you persist in this futile effort to thwart my plans. Do you have any idea the amount of damage you've done to the network?" he hissed spitefully, "The repair cost is ungodly! I can't even wish for it to be repaired or I'll end up arousing Crock-Pot's suspicions!" He shook a fist at the brunet. "Why the bloody hell do you keep attacking my beautiful Spires?"

"Why the heck do you keep trying to put them back after I tear 'em down?" Timmy retorted and scowled as Remy waved his hand and the tank fired several more rounds at the Tower. "Will you cut that out?" he added in a fury. Remy only huffed and folded his arms over his chest, Timmy mirroring him as they glared at one another.

"Now you know how it feels, mongrel." the blonde growled heatedly, "You've been causing me nothing but headaches since the moment I laid eyes on you months ago. What will it take to have you vanish from my sight?" Timmy smirked at him, a fairly defiant grin.

"Destroy your own Spires. If you bring them down yourself and destroy the blueprints to them, I'll walk out of Dimmsdale and never return. But I doubt you're that keen on knocking over your own little toys, expensive as they are to build." he returned coolly.

"Then I have no choice but to bring down yours." Remy purred darkly and waved his hand again, "Fire the tank! Bring that tower crumbling to the earth!" Timmy cried in alarm as the huge gun launched several more rounds on the silver-white tower, sending several chunks of the white granite crashing down onto the lawn. Spinning around to face Remy once again, he opened his mouth to let out an infuriated yell, only to utter a second cry of shock as the blonde leaped at the tank and hit a lever on the side of it. "Activate the nullification system!" he declared in triumph, "Now you can't use magic of any kind to stop me from laying waste to your precious Ivory Tower! Just like you destroyed my beautiful Dark Spires!"

The pulses of anti-magic flooded out almost instantly, sending the brunet reeling in dizziness. He wrapped his arms around himself, crying out in pain as he felt mana and magic stored in his body seep away, neutralized by the frequencies of the device in the tank. The Fenton Phones sputtered to life and the voices of his friends called out to him.

_"The Tower feels like it's shaking apart! What's going on?"_ A.J. exclaimed.

_"What's attacking us? Most of our security cameras got destroyed!"_ Trixie added fearfully.

Timmy struggled to speak, his thoughts scattering with each wave of the nullification field that washed out over the area. He managed to gasp out the blonde's name, then faintly heard the enraged cries of his friends as he dropped to his knees, still trying to hold himself together.

"What's the matter, little mongrel? Not so chipper without your precious fairy magic, are you?" Remy purred, walking around him merrily with his hands behind his back, "This city has always been fated to be under my control, didn't you know?"

"S-stop firing... on the Tower...!" Timmy gasped, glaring back up at him, "Th-there are people inside!" Remy paused before him and smiled smugly, mocking the expression that the brunet had worn when he first touched down on the grassy lawn.

"Oh? Is that so? What are you willing to do for them, hm? What will it take to have me spare their worthless lives?" he asked coldly and grinned as Timmy lifted a hand, stretched it shakily towards the tank and shut his eyes in concentration. "Oh, don't bother trying to pull that freezing trick on it. Crocker didn't build that tank." Remy went on and shook his head as it seemed that the brunet ignored him, "And it's not fairy-based either, so it's perfectly immune to the nullifier. How sad that the same can't be said of you."

"Then how about facing somebody who doesn't care about that kind of crap?" Chester's voice called out icily and Remy looked up in surprise as the Leader of the Others marched out of the crumbling Ivory Tower, green eyes narrowed and flashing angrily. Clad in the black magitech armor, he stopped beside Timmy's crumpled form and folded his arms over his chest. "Hey, Mr. Moneybags, we never got around to me putting that bruise between your eyes." he added with a dry grin, "So how's about we get on that and finish what we started back at the third Spire we took out?" Remy huffed and flicked a finger across his nose, giving the other teen a disdainful look.

"As I recall, I dealt with you rather well back there, and you had no fairy godparent to aid you. I'm certain none has come to you yet, or you wouldn't have the gall to enter this nullification zone." he returned flatly, "On top of that, unlike your black rags, **my** Aces High armor magnifies my strength, speed and agility, plus offers me protection in the way of force fields. You have nothing; always had, always will." He grinned at Chester's reddened face, taking in the angry scowl. "And you may as well get used to referring to me as the new Heart of Dimmsdale. Once my Spires retake the city, you and your little outcast band of ragamuffins will be spending the rest of your days wallowing in misery." the young millionaire added cruelly, "After all, it's only a matter of time before I have the means to eliminate Timothy here once and for all. How will it feel, McBadbat, to know that you failed to support this soon-to-be un-immortal just like you failed that Turner brat?" The blonde ground his teeth together and shook his head furiously.

"Don't you **ever** talk about my pal Timmy like that!" he snapped back and fell into a fighter's pose, keeping himself light and mobile on his feet as he held his fists up, "You'll never take his title! Dimmsdale's gonna get its magic back and all its hope and dreams, too! I swear it on my Pop's baseball bat!" With that, he launched himself at the other blonde, all while the tank continued firing rounds at the Ivory Tower, shaking yet more white granite from its walls.

* * *

Team Turner winced as more of the ceiling crumbled down on them in a shower of debris and dust. A.J. continued tapping at the computer console before him as Trixie flinched at another explosion, holding her hands over her head to protect her hair from the dust. It was an effort to stay standing as the Tower rocked again.

"A.J.! Hurry! Chester and Remy are all over each other down there!" Elmer called back over his shoulder from where he stood at the window.

"I'm typing as fast as I can! The mana field generator is still only in its prototype stage! I won't be able to hold it for very long even if I can get it back online!" the technical expert returned harshly, "Just let me know how Timmy's doing! If he stays in that nullification field too long, we all lose!" Sanjay cringed at another blast that shook the building, then shook it off and clicked the last piece of his laser rifle into place. Hefting it up, he took a position at the window, startling the stocky teen that watched the battle in the street.

"Sanjay? What are you doing?" Elmer exclaimed in horror. The Hindu peered through the crosshairs of the rifle.

"What does it look like? If I can get a clear shot, I might be able to stop the assault!" he returned in a low voice, "Now quiet and let me concentrate!"

"You're not gonna shoot Remy, are you?" the other teen blurted out.

"Tempting, but no. If I can pierce the armor of that tank, perhaps I can disable it."

Trixie yelped as the Tower continued shaking. If this kept up, could the whole thing come down on them? She bit her lip fearfully; if only their stronger allies were there! Caleb would know just what to do to work the technology super-fast and have Timmy rejuvenated by the mana field generator. Danny Phantom would be immune to the nullifier and scare Remy away with his ghost powers. But neither of them were there; the phantom was caught in some weird evil phase and the android was so focused on fixing him, he ignored everyone else.

And then there was their team leader, Timmy, who was at this moment probably lying in the street in agony, at the mercy of the nullifier threatening to destroy the last thing that bound him to life. Her eyes watered, tears running down her face at the thought of him dying again, painfully, awfully. She uttered a soft cry as her thoughts jumped to the other teen, Timmy's second-in-command and the Leader of the Others. The only thing protecting Chester from Remy's tricks was the magitech armor emblazoned with the Heart of Dimmsdale insignia. Yeah, he was a good fighter, but he fought honestly and held back lethal strikes.

Remy wouldn't do the same; he'd try to kill him again, just like at the third Spire, and there wasn't any _Revive_ spell on him to save him from Death this time.

"I... I've gotta help...!" Trixie finally whispered to herself and shook her head fiercely, "I've gotta help him!" With that she raced out of Tower Control and made her way to the ground level.

* * *

Vicky stumbled and fell forward, startled by yet another of the blasts that threw her and Chip out of training. Pushing herself up from the floor, she instinctively reached out for a weapon, momentarily forgetting that she wasn't in her room, with all of her swords within easy reach. She brushed her hair out of her face instead, glaring around herself as the echoes of what sounded like thunder reverberated through the Ivory Tower.

"What the hell is going on out there?" she growled as Chip groaned painfully, picking himself up and pressing a hand to his head, "What is that twerp _doing_?"

"The album comes out... July Twenty-Fourth..." the singer mumbled dazedly and shook his head, "Ugh. Wh-what's going on?" He looked up at the carrot-top as she climbed to her feet, clenching one hand into a fist as she glared over her shoulder, teeth ground together.

"Somebody's attacking us and it looks like nobody's doing anything about it!" she declared, "Twerp! What in hell are you doing out there?" She scowled again and looked aside at Chip as he got to his own feet, looking around in surprise as dust rained down from the ceiling. "Hey, you didn't break anything right?" she asked. The singer blinked in surprise at her, still rubbing his head.

"No. I don't think so. Why?" he returned.

"'Cause I don't want anyone thinking I busted the new member of this ratty little team." the woman grumbled and stomped towards the exit, "Come on! I wanna bust heads for what happened! We're supposed to be training and I can't concentrate on ripping things apart when the place is shaking like lime Jell-O!" Chip hurried after her, holding his hat in place as yet another explosion ripped through the Ivory Tower. They stumbled but maintained their balance to keep from falling again.

"This kind of thing happen often?" he asked as they rushed for the elevator. Vicky jabbed at the button, cursed bitterly when she found it unresponsive and stormed for the nearest staircase.

"I'm just as new to this as you. But considering the crap Timmy went through and all the people he's pissed off over the years, yours truly included, I'd have to say that this is gonna be something we have to get used to pretty damn quick." she returned bitingly and gripped the handrail tightly, grunting softly as another tremor shook the building and nearly sent the two of them tumbling down the steps. "Stupid lousy building! Did they even build it to code?" she added irritably, continuing down the stairs.

* * *

The battle wasn't going entirely as well as Chester had thought, not when he was constantly distracted by his worries over Timmy. The brunet lay half-curled on the asphalt, breathing shallowly and face twisted in pain as he tried to hold the quickly vanishing mana closer to himself. Apparently that was taking up all the concentration he had, else he would have at least pointed out where the nullifier was to Chester and he would have smashed it for him. He blinked at a sudden movement and flipped back, twisting a leg around for a retaliatory kick as he escaped Remy's sneak attack.

"Nice try, but that'll get you killed in the back alleys of Dimmsdale." Chester growled, ignoring the scuffs and grime that decorated the once jet black material of his armor. Remy huffed, regaining his stance as he mimicked the other blonde's poise. He glanced aside at Timmy, then smiled wickedly.

"Perhaps, but I'd wager that the time you spent trying so hard to place that coveted blow to my skull is enough to ensure that the little mongrel is taken out of the battle for good!" he declared triumphantly, "I won't even need Crocker's little invention to get rid of him!" His laughter ended with a single laser blast that slammed into the tank, setting off an explosion that sent him flying forward in shock, halted the firing of the armor-piercing missiles and destroyed the nullifier unit.

"Hah! I told you I could hit anything!" Sanjay cheered from his vantage point, lifting the rifle up as he looked down at the partially destroyed tank. From the top of the Tower, a flash of light erupted and a rush of wind blew out from it, whipping the flames of the tank and vegetation into the air.

_"And I got the mana field working!"_ A.J. declared into the Fenton Phones Chester wore, _"Timmy should be reviving any second now!"_

The door to the Tower slid open and Trixie hurried out, quickly followed by Vicky and Chip as they raced to join Chester on the street. The two adults took up fighting stances, angry expressions crossing their faces. Trixie dropped to Timmy's side to check on him, pulled back as he waved her away, then darted to Chester's side, fists held up and a determined expression on her face. The blonde glanced at her in surprise, blushed slightly, then turned his gaze back at the boy millionaire who stared in shock at the sight of Chip Skylark standing there in the flesh.

"Looks like you're gonna have to beat it like a whupped dog, Monty Moneybags." the Leader of the Others remarked with a grin, cracking his knuckles as Timmy inhaled deeply and picked himself up from the ground, eyes narrowed viciously at Remy as he held out his hands, spheres of red-gold Fire mana surrounding them. The young millionaire glared at the both of them, then whistled sharply.

"Juandissimo!" he yelled and the hatch to the nearly demolished tank popped open, allowing the fairy to fly out and hover by him with a faintly guilty look on his face, "I wish we were home!" A wave of the wand and the two of them were gone, leaving a mess of rubble and a burning tank as evidence of what had happened. With them gone, Timmy released the mana spheres and sighed weakly, sitting back down on the grass and hanging his head as Chester ran his fingers along his teeth to be sure they were all in one piece. Vicky snorted and turned away from the group, looking annoyed as Chip knelt by the brunet to be sure he wasn't going to faint.

"Are you okay?" Trixie asked the blonde beside her and chuckled as he blushed again and glanced aside bashfully.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's no big deal. I mean, c'mon... when you've got dozens of junkies and messed up kids constantly trying to beat the crap out of you and your friends, you tend to just roll with the punches. Y'know?" he returned sheepishly.

"But what if he... you could have..." Trixie whimpered softly, eyes watering all over again. The blonde sighed and shook his head.

"Tricks, really. I woulda been fine." he insisted, "'Sides, I wasn't gonna let him get away with callin' you all those names before." He paused and looked thoughtful. "I still haven't nailed him between the eyes. Looks like I'll have to wait another time to hit him." he mused aloud and grinned at the Asian's soft giggles.

"Hey, little man, you okay?" Chip asked worriedly as Timmy brought both hands up to his face.

"Ugh. Not really. I thought I was finally getting over that nullifier thing; mana shields, changing my mana signature to match an anti-fairy, I come up with ways to protect myself against it, but I never get a chance to actually use them to save myself!" he complained and looked up at the group, "I'm just really tired out. Was anyone hurt? How's Anti-Cosmo?" he added.

_"Timmy? That you? You asked about Anti-Cosmo?"_ Tootie suddenly remarked over the Fenton Phones, _"He's okay for now. Mint and I kept most of the junk from falling on him and the machines working. He's looking a little better, but he's still out of it. Won't wake up yet."_

"As long as he's still alive. That's all I care about right now." the brunet sighed and looked up at the ruined Tower, taking in the sight of large patches of white granite missing, littering the lawn with rubble and debris. He winced slightly; Genis wasn't going to be pleased with this, and he was pretty sure Caleb would be hopping mad if he was around. Thinking of the android reminded him of his still altered cousin and Timmy closed his eyes, picturing him in his mind again and forcing his memory of what Danny truly was like over that evil, corrupt version of him. The same little warm feeling he got when he did that grew in him again and he let go of the overlapping images.

_"Timmy, why not make a wish to have the Ivory Tower repaired?"_ Wanda asked, _"Since it has your picture on the walls, Cosmo and I are the only ones allowed to use magic on it."_ Chip helped Timmy get to his feet as he shook his head in the negative.

"Remy has seen first-hand the damage he's done and he knows about Da Rules saying no other fairies can use magic on anything tied to me. If he happens to pass by here later, and sees the Ivory Tower all fixed up like nothing ever happened, he's gonna start to wonder about the truth of Da Rules." Timmy replied with a sigh, "We're going to have to leave the damage there to keep my cover." The group began returning to the interior of the Ivory Tower, somewhat downcast by the near destruction of the Ivory Tower and the realization that they couldn't use magic to solve this problem so easily. Chip leaned the brunet against him and helped him walk to the Tower. Timmy paused when Chester tapped at his shoulder and looked back at him, puzzled.

"Sorry for not staying behind." the blonde apologized, "But I've got a serious beef with that guy." Timmy grinned tiredly.

"No problem. I should be thanking you, though, for bailing me out of that one. I really shouldn't be getting so cocky." he returned, "And I'm not surprised to see the two of you start up your own rivalries. After all, you're both leaders of two polar opposite social groups. He's got the A-List and you have the Others."

"But, **you're** the Leader of the...!" Chester exclaimed and Timmy shook his head adamantly.

"Not anymore. I died and you stepped in to take my place. You deserve the position." he corrected, "You're doing a great job of it. Protect everyone, Chester, you're strong enough to do it." He grinned again and tapped knuckles with the blonde, "Now, if you don't mind, I'm gonna go crash for a few hours."

"No prob, Dude." Chester laughed cheerfully. Trixie looked between the two of them and looked thoughtfully down at the floor as she walked with the group.

How strange. Was she actually thinking that this... redneck... could be someone worth looking at? The guy got praises from Timmy for being a really good guy; what better vote of credibility than one from the true Heart of Dimmsdale? Her face flushed slightly but she stole a glance up at the blonde, smiling briefly at the pride glittering in his green eyes. Well, clean him up a bit more and work at his grammar... maybe it could work...


	3. Chapter 3

3

Remy paced back and forth in his room, a pensive frown on his face as he thought over the meeting with Timothy at his own home base. Juandissimo stood before a vanity mirror, primping again, or so he thought. In actuality, the fairy godfather was watching his godchild carefully, worried over what could be going through his mind. The blonde would utter a small 'Hmph' at random times, eyebrows furrowed together in thought.

It still didn't make much sense. Why was Timothy so intent on destroying the Dark Spires when he had no ties to Dimmsdale whatsoever? And why is he suddenly willing to step away if Remy brought them down on his own? Had something in his line of thinking changed?

"Could it be that he's recognizing the futility of it and is looking for an easy escape now?" Remy mused to himself and shook his head, "And these anti-fairies... shouldn't they have been taken back to Anti-Fairy World already? Why are they still here?"

He continued pacing, mind spinning with questions and puzzles. This was all far too complex, even for him. For a brief moment, he mentally wished for his younger days, when all he had to worry about was getting back at Timmy Turner for some reason or another. Those days were simple, fun, and didn't have to have this endless watching of his back to be sure his secrets weren't spilled for the world to see.

And what _secrets_ he held. He paused and shivered, rubbing his hands as a cold feeling washed over him, a feeling he hadn't had for the longest time. He'd spent so long convincing himself that he wasn't wrong, he wasn't really responsible, but could it be that his own words were beginning to fail him? No one else knew the truth; only him and his benefactors. Speaking of which, they would be arriving soon for a progress report. They provided information and technologies that aided him and Crocker in the Dark Spire Project, and in return they wanted...

Remy shuddered again and gripped the back of a chair so tightly he felt sure he'd leave fingerprints in the fine wood. Just thinking of the price he would have to pay made him feel that old sick feeling again. It had horrified him at first, but he talked himself into agreeing, convinced himself that it wouldn't affect him. After all, **he** wasn't the one who was going to suffer through that price.

But he only paid half; they wanted the other half and they weren't pleased with the idea that it was gone forever. So, how was he to pay? How was he supposed to finish the payment for all this power? Power that didn't seem to do much to the immortal that moved in and began ripping his plans to pieces.

He had to be gotten rid of; that mongrel orphan was making things far too complicated and, as things stood now, Remy was walking a very fine line between everything he ever wanted, and utter destruction.

"This is all Timmy's fault, and Timothy's too." he whispered to himself, trying once again to rebuild his frame of mind and his bravado, "They were in the way, they were always in the way. It's not my fault. It's not my fault. They should have known better. If they had just done what I wanted, they wouldn't be like this. They would both be just fine. A little miserable, but then they're peasantry. It doesn't matter to me."

The memory of Timothy curled on the ground, glaring up at him weakly as ribbons of pink drifted away from his body, came to mind again and he swallowed hard, shoving the image away. It wasn't his fault. That brat was the one always trying to interfere where he didn't belong. Why didn't he just give up and go back to New York? Things would be so much better for everyone if they just did what Remy wanted and not try to rebel or anything like that.

People wouldn't be hurt.

"Remy? _Amigo?_ Something the matter?" Juandissimo's voice brought him out of his thoughts and he glanced over at the Latino fairy as he flew from the mirror towards him.

"It's nothing." Remy returned in a harsher tone than he intended. The fairy winced and he sighed. "My apologies, chum, but truly, it's nothing. Go back to your primping. I'm just puzzling over homework." he amended and waited until Juandissimo judged he was okay and flew back to the mirror before resuming his train of thoughts.

Really, the root of the problem was the fact that no one was cooperating with him. All Dimmsdale would have to do was acknowledge him as the new Heart and the city would be revived. Granted those Dark Spires would still be there, but it's not like they were hurting anyone. Besides the fairies, of course, and only because they were stupid enough to not have the protection of his benefactors or were living in the nullification fields.

Which brought him to the problem of Timothy again. The boy kept getting bent out of shape when exposed to the field, but he kept insisting he wasn't a fairy. Obviously he had to be lying, but he didn't have any proof that would confirm him as a fairy beyond the fact that when a nullifier went up, Timothy went down. Hard. And yet, there was that rare instance where the nullifier did nothing to him, besides blowing up in his face and peppering him with shrapnel. His magic had not been blocked, he didn't seem weakened by the field, so then what?

What **was** he, this boy who couldn't die and alternated between being fairy-like and not almost at whim?

There was an electronic noise, a burst of smoke erupting just beyond his peripheral vision, and Remy turned to look at his guests with some amount of scorn. Their fault, too. Ultimately, it was their fault he didn't get what he wanted. Theirs and Timothy's... and yes, even Timmy Turner's, damn that dead brat.

"What do you want?" he growled at them, irritated by the questions in his head, his current situation and the fact that he, Remy Buxaplenty, richest boy in Dimmsdale, was in _debt_ to these obnoxious beings.

"Progress report. Have you obtained the rest of the payment? We want to get started processing it." one of the guests remarked dryly, "We didn't come for a social visit. We expect to be paid for aiding you."

"And we're going to want a report on the damage done to the tank we gave you as well as your explanations on why you let it fall into enemy hands." another of them added and turned towards his comrade, "I can't wait to process that as well. The detailing is going to have me up for hours tonight."

"Do it yourself!" Remy snapped, "I've lost half of the Dark Spires because that arrogant Timothy brat is gathering up more of that infernal Turner's allies and sending them all after my beautiful towers!" He waved an arm out at the city. "And these blasted anti-fairies are constantly interfering with daily routines! I can't even move around in school without having a whole flock of the vultures show up and sap this loony black whatever-it-is from me!"

"Negative energy." the first visitor supplied dully, "We know. They are most probably collecting it to heal Anti-Cosmo." Remy and Juandissimo both gave the group their full attentions, eyes wide with surprise.

"Anti-Cosmo? Why would he need healing?" the Latino fairy demanded, "What have you done?"

"A warning. The anti-fairy really shouldn't have been snooping around in files that he wasn't authorized to view." one of the females returned calmly, almost as if she was just listing off the minutes to a last meeting, "All it took for authorization was the completion of Form XB104-A. However, given his connections, the form would most probably have been denied." Remy tilted his head in confusion, a blank look on his face.

"We left him alive. It serves us no purpose to destroy what we want." the first visitor added, "But that is beside the point. We've lost four of the Spires. We're going to have to look through the records of those Spires to identify the weaknesses and damages."

"Joy." the group of them said collectively.

"Have I mentioned to you, _mi amigo_, how much I detest being around these creatures?" Juandissimo whispered to Remy.

"About as often as you rip your shirts, Juandissimo." the blonde returned under his breath and looked back at his benefactors, "Well, ladies and gentlemen, since you now know that the Dark Spires are failing to withstand Timothy's attacks, what are you going to do about it?"

"That metal we delivered to your underling was going to be used in a device of some kind, correct?" the lead visitor questioned. Remy nodded. "We'll be taking some of that metal for ourselves. We have the plans for an additional device that can be tested on your adversary." Remy glared at the group warily, folding his arms over his chest.

"Really? And this device will be the one to destroy him for good?" he asked, mentally telling himself that 'destroy' was used in a good context. After all, Timothy was _supposed_ to be dead; it would be beneficial for the both of them if he was put back in Death's hands. Remy would be free to do as he pleased and Timothy would get the oblivion he no doubt required.

"No. We don't want him destroyed. We want him captured." the female corrected, "Upon successful capture of 'Timothy', your payment will be complete." Remy blinked in surprise.

"It will be? But I thought the payment required you to obtain...!" he began and halted as one of the visitors lifted his hand for silence.

"This one will do just as well. That's all you need to know. The contract is very clear on what you had to pay us." he amended, "When the device is completed, we will bring it to you. Be sure you use it well to capture the boy. We want him as whole as possible. He's no good to us if he is too damaged for processing." Remy sighed harshly and tossed his head.

"Fine. Whatever. Just take the metal and your reports and get out of my house. If you won't grant my wishes to just take him out of my sight, then you're useless to me." he declared in agitation.

"It's not that we won't grant the wish to simply acquire him." one of the group told him as they began leaving for the data collection, "It is that we can't. Timothy is too well protected... and gaining power quickly. Soon, not even our technology will be able to contain him, and we must have his power for ourselves before the fairies discover the truth."

"What truth?" Juandissimo demanded, "What are you planning for Fairy World this time?"

"Nothing you haven't already tried to plan yourselves." the female returned icily, "We are simply evening the odds, and negating the greatest weapon Fairy World produced." With that, she and the others disappeared. Remy huffed and turned his back on the last place he saw them, frowning as he thought over what he had been told. A truth. They were only helping him to gain hold of a power that revealed a truth. How valuable was this truth? Perhaps...

"Perhaps if I obtained Timothy's power for myself before they do, I can rule more than just this world." Remy mused with a half-grin, eyes glittering with the idea of it, "Think of it, Juandissimo! With all the power he possesses in **my** hands, I can do _anything_ I want! And you can have that silly pink-haired fairy for yourself!"

"You would use that power to give Wanda to me?" Juandissimo asked dubiously, "What of Cosmo?"

"What of him? He's nowhere here, right?" Remy remarked idly, unaware of his fairy godfather's paling face and obvious flinch at those words.

"R-right."

"Then, forget him. Besides, he's an idiot and useless to any child he comes across. And if the facts about anti-fairies and fairies are true, then right now he should be on the brink of death." Remy went on, "Those anti-fairies will fail to heal their leader and will fall to pieces once he turns to dust, and Cosmo will follow him into blissful oblivion. Perhaps they'll find that Turner brat along the way, won't that be lovely, hm?" He walked off, waving a hand eagerly as he did, "Come along, then! We have wishes to make and grant, and much work to be done! We only have four Spires to do the job of eight and one of them needs to be reconnected to the network!"

* * *

Ivory Tower~

The days passed on in good time, though fewer anti-fairies were allowed to go out into the city for gathering energy. Timmy was insistent that Dimmsdale be given a chance to recover a bit from the scares and though the anti-fairies didn't like the orders, they still obeyed. The majority of them clustered in the guest rooms in the higher levels of the Ivory Tower, on occasion peeking out the windows to watch the humans below them work to clear off the rubble and debris from Remy's attack.

Vicky was enjoying herself immensely, using a pickaxe to unleash her frustrations on the larger chunks of white granite while Chip used them as target practice for his Teeth Fu. Some of the teens were startled by the beams of light firing from his shiny teeth, but once it was explained by Timmy that Chip had the Tooth Fairy looking out for him they settled down a bit.

"So this magic light is something from the Tooth Fairy?" the adult singer asked in confusion, pointing at his teeth. The brunet nodded, holding a hand out to one of the larger pieces of rubble and focusing on it.

"The Tooth Fairy said that you were her greatest achievement, so I'm guessing that all those years of her bestowing blessings or whatever on you infused your teeth with some of her power. What you have is like a defense beam or something." he returned, watching the white granite dissolve into water, "Anytime you're in trouble, it goes off. Kinda cool to see that you're teaching yourself to use it more as an offensive attack." He watched Wanda and Cosmo fire bursts of magic at various other piles of rubble, turning them into butterflies or, in Cosmo's case, random dangerous creatures that Wanda would have to poof away immediately.

"Snowball!" he exclaimed once, then wailed when his wife sent the three-headed hydra back to Fairy World, "I didn't even get a chance to play Frisbee!" Timmy grinned at their antics and sighed tiredly, looking for a place to rest. He knew that the group was still waiting for the chance to go back to the elementary school and snoop around for clues, but he was just too exhausted to give the order. It was almost as if his energy was being drained, but why? And where was it all going?

Sitting down on the grass, he uttered another sigh and looked up at the Ivory Tower, wincing at the gaps in its armor. Patches of dull gray-black stone peeked out from among the cracked white granite, evidence of the poly-carbonate that was hidden behind the stone to act as a defense against direct magic attacks. It did nothing to protect the Tower from physical blows; that was the job of the still-in-development mana shield generator. The mana field generator only saturated the area with extra mana to nullify nullifiers and revitalize magic-users in its vicinity.

"Hey, Timmy!" Chester called out and the brunet turned his head to watch a few of his friends run up to him excitedly, "The elementary school is totally empty now! You feel up to going over and checking it out for clues?" Timmy gave them a weak grin and got back up, hoping he didn't look as tired as he felt.

"Sure, why not? We've done enough work cleaning up here, and I want to put off calling Genis about this as long as I can." he returned, "Let's take the bus and go check it out." He looked over at the singer. "You wanna join us, Chip?"

"Nah. I'm not ready for a public appearance yet. I'll stick around here with Icky Vicky and work out my Teeth Fu some more." Chip answered with a gentle smile, "You just take care of yourself, okay? Don't want to lose the Heart of Dimmsdale again." The brunet nodded and waved towards his fairies, catching their attentions.

"Cosmo! Wanda! We're heading to Dimmsdale Elementary! Can you guys stay here and help Chip and Vicky train?" he called out and the fairy couple looked at each other, back at him, then flew up with concerned expressions. Wanda put a hand to his forehead as Cosmo peered at him closely.

"I don't know if that's a good idea, Sport. You're losing magical energy. We should stay with you and give you boosts whenever possible." she told him and held her wand out at him, firing a burst of pink magic that quickly disappeared into Timmy's body. He immediately perked up and looked at himself in confusion.

"Losing energy? Really? I just thought I was imagining things." he echoed in surprise, "Why am I losing magic?"

"You're not losing it; your magical energy is leeching out." Cosmo added, circling his head with a strange expression on his face, "You're doing something that's taking a lot of magic to do and it's kinda going out bit by bit to do it. What are you doing?"

"Nothing! I'm not focusing on anything right now!" Timmy sighed in exasperation, "But if you guys are worried about me, then just come along and help me stay alert." The fairy couple poofed into their respective guises on him, Cosmo as a green iPod slung around his neck and Wanda as a pink wristwatch on his free arm, the other bearing the Adventurer's Map 3000 Mk II armband computer. Tootie gave him a worried look as well.

"You're going to be okay, right? Have you ever had this happen before?" she asked, lavender eyes wide with concern. The brunet blinked at her, blushed slightly, then shook his head.

"No, but I should be fine. What's the worst that could happen?" he asked and looked back up at the Tower, "Anti-Wanda! Come here!" Another burst of smoke and his godmother's anti-self appeared. She held a plush doll of her husband in her hands, cuddling it cheerfully. "Hey, Anti-Wanda, how are you?" Timmy greeted softly, reaching out to rub her head much the same way he did with Wanda.

"Aw, shucks, ya'll! Ah'm peachy!" the anti-fairy giggled, "Anti-Cozzie's been movin' more, so he oughtta be wakin' up purdy soon!" The brunet grinned.

"That's good to hear. How much has he healed?"

"Dunno, but that girlie in the big glass room said he's not in critical condition no more, whatever that means!" Anti-Wanda declared, leaning into the petting happily, "Ah can'ts wait till he wakes up! Ah miss my lil' Anti-Cozzie so much! He says such nice stuff in his fancy talk, it makes me feel just like a purdy lil' princess from onna 'em anti-fairy tales!"

"Well, keep an eye him and I'll be right back." Timmy told her and began walking off with the rest of Team Turner.

"Shore thing, _sunu_!" Anti-Wanda replied brightly, waving her arm excitedly before vanishing in another blast of smoke. Timmy halted and looked back in shock.

"What? What did she call me?" he exclaimed in surprise.

"Nothing! Ignore her and let's go! We don't have all day!" Wanda barked and the brunet shook his head, uncertain. That was strange; where had he heard that word before? It sounded so familiar...

* * *

Dimmsdale Elementary~

"I never thought I'd be back here again." Chester murmured quietly as the members of Team Turner walked slowly across the lawn of the elementary school. Trixie walked by him, nodding sadly as she kept her gaze down.

"It's all like some horrible nightmare." she whispered.

"So much media attention." A.J. mumbled, "Yellow tape..." Sanjay shuddered beside him as Elmer winced at the words.

"That day... we should not speak of it..." the Hindu whimpered, "Such bad memories..." The group glanced over at Tootie, who looked as if she were fighting back tears as she walked with them, one hand placed on her dagger's sheath in ready position. She was responsible for guarding Timmy, and nothing was going to reach him without tasting her steel first. But even back then, with her eagerness and fire, she could not save the brunet from Death. Timmy led the way, silent and unresponsive to anything the rest of his friends had said. He finally stopped at one point and turned to look back at them.

"Okay. Does anyone remember exactly where I died?" he asked calmly and blinked as the group collectively pointed at one single spot without fail, the patch of earth sectioned off from the rest of the playground by four pillars and velvet rope.

"No one can forget that place, Timmy. It was where all of Dimmsdale's hopes and dreams were stolen away." Elmer told him solemnly, "Everyone in the city knows exactly where you fell..." The brunet stared at him for a moment, a faintly horrified look on his face that quickly vanished as he glanced away guiltily.

"I'm sorry." he murmured, "You're all miserable because of me."

"No. It's because of your murderer that we lost our dreams." Tootie told him sternly, "You were a victim, and so was all of Dimmsdale. But you're here now, and we're getting our dreams back." The group moved towards the spot they had pointed out and knelt down to study it. It looked just like any other patch of ground, covered in grass and everything. Nothing particularly special seemed to jump out at them from it.

"Doesn't look like mu-." Timmy muttered, reaching out to touch fingers to the earth, before jerking his hand back in shock, "Wha-? What was that?"

"What was what?" Tootie asked and he looked over at her in alarm.

"You didn't feel that?" he demanded shakily, "There's some **really** negative energy here." The Goth shook her head and Timmy swallowed hard, holding his hands out over the ground, skimming the grass and flinching every second or so. "It's all over the place, and it feels familiar. Covers this much ground." he murmured, spreading his arms out to measure the earth.

"Dude, that's how big you were when you died." Chester pointed out softly, his voice cracking just a bit, "That stuff is all over the exact place you were lying when you fell."

"It's from me." Timmy realized with a start, "This negative energy... it came from me? Why? I don't remember feeling angry or anything when I fell. I barely remember feeling pain." He closed his eyes and took on a look of concentration. After a moment, his nose wrinkled slightly. "I sense magic." he finally said in a stronger tone, opening his eyes and looking over at his friends.

"Magic? You can sense it?" Tootie asked in surprise and Trixie nodded.

"Yeah, Timmy can tell if there's magic and mana in a place by smelling it or feeling it. He told me about it." the Popular explained, "It's like a perfume the world wears when everything is okay. If it isn't there, something is wrong. Can't you do it too? You learned magic." Tootie shook her head and the girl looked puzzled. "I thought you'd be able to, but I guess only really good magic-users can do it."

"And what the hell is **that** supposed to mean?" Tootie hissed, eyes flashing dangerously.

"Do you always have to fight like this?" A.J. asked them grouchily, "How long have you two been at odds? It's not like either of you bothered to give Timmy the time of day when he was alive." Trixie blushed in embarrassment as Tootie turned on him angrily.

"That's not true and you know it, Tech-Head! I liked him back then and I still do!" she snapped and blinked, face flushing as she realized what she had just revealed, "Wait, I mean-!"

"Ah-hah! I wondered why you kept staring at us all those times!" Sanjay laughed teasingly. The group snickered playfully as Timmy carefully crawled about on the grass, his attention more focused on sniffing delicately at the area than on what was going on with the girls.

"It's magic, but not the kind I'm used to. Wanda, Cosmo, any ideas?" he finally asked his fairies, "Whatever this is, it's really faint, but still here."

"We feel it, and you're right. It's just lingering shreds of magic." Wanda murmured, "This is..."

The iPod suddenly dropped off from around Timmy's neck, poofing back into Cosmo as he stood there on the grass, head hanging down and wings fluttering weakly. Both Timmy and Wanda looked at him curiously as he turned his head from side to side slowly, seeming to scan the earth.

"Them again. Why am I not surprised?" the fairy godfather finally murmured darkly, "I suppose they believe third time will be the charm."

"Cosmo?" Timmy called in concern and the fairy jumped, startled. He looked back over his shoulder, blinking up at them dumbly.

"Huh? Is it time to play the 'Not Study' game?" he asked in confusion. The brunet tilted his head, giving him a wary look.

"No. You were just acting a little weird. You okay?" he asked in return and Cosmo nodded brightly.

"Just fine!" he chirped and flicked his wand, firing off a blast of magic that blanketed the area in green smoke and sent the whole of Team Turner into coughing fits.

"Hey! What was that for?" Apollo yelled from his guise as Trixie's pendant, "Idiot!"

"Whoops." Cosmo chuckled, rubbing his head bashfully, "My wand slipped." A briefly annoyed expression flashed across his face but vanished in favor of an innocent look. "Are we still gonna play?" he asked instead. Timmy sighed and stood back up, patting his shoulder to signal the fairy.

"Never mind. Whatever that was, it's gone now. Let's see what else we can find here." he remarked as Cosmo flew up to sit on his shoulder. Elmer traced the edges of the patch of grass where Timmy had fallen so long ago, then paused in confusion.

"There's this. The ground here is kind of sunken in." he pointed out and poked at the earth as the other teens gathered around with him. There was a short indentation in the earth roughly two inches long. A.J. studied it carefully, then sat back, unimpressed.

"It's from the jungle gym. That's where the legs were put into the ground." he clarified as the stockier boy let out a small yelp of pain and jerked his hand back. "What now?" A.J. asked, one eyebrow lifting at the exclamation.

"Something poked me!" Elmer blurted and scooted back as Tootie took her dagger and began to dig at the spot, "It felt weird." They watched the Goth work for a few moments, then peered into the hole she dug out. "What is that?" Elmer finally asked as they stared at the small trench and a mechanical looking gadget buried in the earth.

"I dunno, but it looks broken. See the rough edges here?" Chester murmured, pointing at the jagged edges of what appeared to be a hollow metal rod run through with thin tubing and wires. A.J. studied it with a practiced eye and snapped his fingers.

"That's it! This must be the mechanism that made the jungle gym move!" he cried, "That explains the little trenches where the legs of the jungle gym had been. This thing gouged part of the earth when it moved the jungle gym."

"More proof that my death wasn't an accident; I really _was_ murdered." Timmy mused aloud, rubbing the end of his nose with a fingertip, "But how did this thing move the gym? And who made it do that? And why?"

"Why don't we look around some more and see if we can find other clues?" Trixie suggested as A.J. reached into his pocket for a pair of gloves.

"And I need to get part of this device out for evidence. Tootie, can you help me dig out more of it?" he asked her and the Goth grinned.

"I'll do one better." she replied and brushed her hair aside, revealing a single crescent moon earring dangling from her right ear, "Romi! I wish the device hidden in this ground was up on top of the grass for us to see!" The earring poofed into the form of Tootie's fairy godmother and she held up her wand to grant the wish. In a blast of dark blue smoke, the hidden device was lifted up.

It was a ring of some sort, with short pegs decorating the top, some of them broken off, and a thick base where all the tubing and wires came from. Trixie glared at it with sudden animosity.

"I've seen this before." she growled, "I know I have, but I don't remember where or when." Timmy blinked at her, then at the machine.

"What the heck is it?" he asked as A.J. studied the device carefully. The boy shrugged silently and he turned to the rest of the group. "Let's leave him to check it out. Where should we start looking for more clues?"

"How 'bout we check out that room?" Chester asked, jerking a thumb towards the window that stood right across the yard from them, "It's got a direct view of the jungle gym, so maybe we can see if it's possible to get another angle on this crime scene."

"Good idea. Elmer, stay here with A.J. I don't want him unprotected from anything. Remy attacked us on our own turf, so he might pull more crud on us out here in no-man's land." Timmy ordered and the boy nodded quickly before rushing to join the African-American examining the device. The rest of the group headed towards the school doors.

* * *

Entering the building was easy; just wish for the doors to be open and that was that. The teens walked down the halls, searching for the room as they listened to their footsteps echoing in the empty corridors.

"I wonder if they fixed that one room I accidentally blew apart." Timmy remarked suddenly, a faint smile on his face, "That was the first time I saw Crocker's new fairy traps. It destroyed my first staff, a training bo, and it slammed a pretty big piece of shrapnel in my stomach. I never thought Vicky could turn **that** white until she saw the damage it did to me."

"You were here before? Hunting traps?" Tootie asked in surprise, "And Vicky was with you?" The brunet nodded.

"Actually, she followed me in and didn't see anything except what happened after I destroyed the traps. Good thing, too; I passed out from the blood loss and when I woke up again..." he paused and blushed, "Oh, yeah. That was the day we met again, when I woke up in your room." Tootie turned a bright shade of red as the other boys snickered and Trixie frowned in disapproval.

"This hall looks familiar. Are we going the right way?" Chester suddenly asked, looking around warily. Tootie held up her armband and studied the map.

"Yeah. According to the layout, A.J. and Elmer are here and the room with the direct view is only a couple of doors ahead of us." she returned and looked up at the walls as they walked, "Ninety-nine, one hundred... here it is. Room One-Oh-One. The window with the best vantage point is here." She heard Chester and Sanjay gulp audibly and turned to blink at them, her concern increasing as she spotted Timmy's paling face. "What?"

"This is Mr. Crocker's room." Trixie murmured for them, her face displaying confusion openly, "His room could see straight into the playground and had the best view in the whole school." She looked over at the brunet as he unlocked the door with a wish and silently pushed it open.

It was different; the walls were decorated with cheerful posters and leafy green plants sat on various pieces of furniture. The only thing that had not changed was the bust of Crocker grinning on the desk. No one had been able to remove it and just left it there as a warning to children to behave themselves. In eerie silence, the team entered the room and walked straight to the window, gazing out at A.J. and Elmer as they worked with the strange device. They stood for a few minutes before Sanjay finally worked up the courage to speak first.

"So what exactly are we doing here?" he asked and winced as the group turned as one to look blankly at him, "Well, here we are, but we do not seem to be doing anything to collect clues and evidence."

"Crocker's room." Timmy murmured suddenly, his eyes taking on a puzzled, distant look, "He's always been scheming to steal Cosmo and Wanda from me. Most of his plans involved destroying me, otherwise known as flat out killing me. If he could put me in that position, or just put me in enough danger, Cosmo and Wanda would have no choice but to reveal themselves to help me and then they'd be vulnerable to his traps."

"So are you saying Crocker murdered you to get your fairies?" Chester asked darkly. The brunet shut his eyes, fingertip flying up to tap against his teeth as he thought it over. Finally, he shook his head, though uncertainly.

"I don't think so. He was in here muttering to himself when I went outside for recess, but I don't see how he would be able to make a jungle gym move from in here." he finally answered. Trixie blinked and held her finger out, flicking it.

"How about a finger flick? That thing he always did before he cried?" she asked, "Maybe he had been talking about a switch he flicked while he was in here?" Tootie brightened up in understanding.

"Oh, yeah! He'd laugh, then flick his fingers, then cry, right? He must have been laughing when he hit the switch that moved the dome, then..." she paused and looked confused, "But then why would he cry? Wasn't killing Timmy the reason why he went through all this?"

"And he said he didn't mean it. A murderer wouldn't show remorse for the death of his victim, right?" Romi added thoughtfully.

"Plus, we don't know for sure that Crocker was the one who hit the switch. Remy's the one who had it." Apollo agreed as Timmy turned his head and studied the wall by the window, frowning thoughtfully as he ran his fingers along it.

"There's something strange about this wall. The paint is lighter here." he remarked and the teens joined him in looking at the coloring. He traced out a large section. "Right about here. Someone repainted this part of the wall." he added and undid his watch, "Wanda, I wish this wall was the way it was before this new paint was put on it." The fairy godmother poofed out of her guise and waved her wand, granting the wish. In a burst of magic, the lighter color paint melted away, along with several pieces of plaster, leaving a squared-off hole cut into the wall and a pair of wires hanging free. The group gasped in shock.

"Those wires are the same as the ones that were attached to the switch in Remy's possession!" Sanjay exclaimed, "And that hole is the right shape for it too!"

"So it **was** Crocker." Chester growled, "If I ever lay eyes on that crazy old man, I'll...!" He stopped as Timmy held up a hand suddenly.

"It doesn't make sense." the brunet murmured, "The switch is here, yes. Crocker flipped it, yes. But is it really the one connected to the thing outside? Why would Crocker be devastated by a plan actually working? And why would Remy be the one holding the switch and treating it like a treasure when Crocker was the one who created the thing that killed me?" He looked back at the other teens, confused. "It doesn't make sense." he repeated, then took on a faint expression, "Oh crud, I'm getting light-headed. Wanda..." He uttered a soft moan and fell back against the teacher's desk, using it to hold himself up as he pressed a hand to his forehead. Cosmo flew off of him as he fell and spun around to watch his wife fire another burst of magic at him.

"We should get you back home to rest." Wanda told him worriedly, "Are you sure you're not doing something that's taking up so much magic?" Timmy nodded, standing back up and rubbing his head. "Think harder, Timmy. Maybe you know, you just don't recognize it."

"I'm not doing anything!" the brunet sighed in exasperation, "But you're right about getting home. I wanted to check out the Crocker Cave, but we can do that when I'm feeling better."

"We should take that thing to the Ivory Tower." Trixie remarked, pointing at the device as A.J. and Elmer waved at them from outside.

"Wish it there." Apollo suggested, holding up his wand, "It's got no direct ties to Timmy, so I can affect it." Trixie nodded and promptly made the wish, watching as the ring vanished in a burst of red smoke. With that done, the teens quickly hurried outside to rejoin with the other boys.

* * *

"Warn us next time one of you makes a wish." A.J. grumbled as the group reached them, "I thought Remy was here, snatching away evidence again." He held up a camera and pointed at it. "I got a few digital shots of it, and even though I'm gonna need more time to analyze it, I can tell you a few things about it right now."

"Sorry. So what'd you learn?" Timmy blurted out, eager to get things done so he could go home, rest a bit, then head to New York and see if his cousin had gotten any better. A.J. showed the group the photos in his camera, scrolling through the images.

"Well, first of all, this technology isn't normal for Crocker. It was built by someone else." he began, "Secondly, it has a logo on it that I don't recognize. It's written in a strange language. I can't translate it right away, so I'll need to scan it in and do an online search." Cosmo, Wanda, Romi and Apollo all peered down at the camera with the teens.

"Weird. It looks like gibberish." Trixie muttered. Her fairy narrowed his eyes at it and huffed.

"It looks almost runic." Tootie murmured thoughtfully as Romi gave it a puzzled look, tilting her head.

"It ain't English, that's for damn sure." Chester grumbled and looked at Sanjay, "Can you read it?"

"What are you implying?" Sanjay growled back at him, "I do not recognize those symbols."

"They looked kinda official to me." Elmer added in a puzzled tone, "But other than that it was all crazy-looking."

"I don't recognize them either." Timmy mumbled slowly, peering closely at the image, "Guys?" Wanda and Cosmo both gave it steady glares before they finally shook their heads in unison. "Well, I guess we'll just have to wait until A.J. works his techno-magic on 'em." he sighed and looked to his friends, "I'm heading home for now. I'll see you guys tomorrow." They nodded and wished him well as the brunet made a wish to head back to the Neogene Manor, leaving them to their own devices of going home.


	4. Chapter 4

4

Rest. Rest was sweet. Rest was needed. Rest was wanted. Timmy trudged up the steps to his room, ignoring the robotic butlers and maids, ignoring his fairy godparents as they fluttered worriedly around him. Rest was something he craved at the moment. Just a little rest and then he would go and see if he could finally visit Danny in New York. The thought made him feel more somber and tired. His poor cousin, trapped in some corrupt version of himself; how was he taking it? Did he even know what had happened to him?

And he couldn't forget all that he had learned that day, the weird ring buried in the ground where the jungle gym once stood, the hole in the wall where the switch had been... the implication that Crocker had been his murderer. But if that was so, why would Crocker be weeping and broken? Wouldn't he have been gloating that day?

Probably because he didn't get Cosmo and Wanda, like he wanted. Of course they wouldn't have shown up until it was too late; Timmy personally made sure of that...

He jerked his head up, a cold feeling passing over him as his eyes went wide. Why was that suddenly pressing into his mind as though it were a very important memory? He had made his wish that morning, before he went to school. He told them to have the day off, do anything they wanted as long as it didn't involve him, then at recess he was murdered. And his godparents were unable to help because he had wished them to stay away from him. Not strong enough of a wish to override their Timmy Sense, but enough to cost them time and him his life.

Had the whole thing been planned? Had someone waited until he was vulnerable to strike? It couldn't be possible; who would know that he really **had** fairies, far less told them to leave him open to attack on that very day he was killed?

"Ungghh..." the brunet groaned softly, stumbling the rest of the way into his room and collapsing onto his bed. The questions were making his head hurt and the magical drain was exhausting him. He hoped for a short nap, something to bolster his strengths again, and closed his eyes before he even knew what was happening.

At the entrance to his room, Cosmo and Wanda hovered silently, watching him with worried gazes.

"You don't suppose they really know who and what he is, do you, Cosmo?" Wanda whispered fearfully, "After everything that's happened to us, after we worked so hard to keep it hidden... it can't go like this." Cosmo shrugged helplessly and she looked away from him back towards the boy. "I guess I should have seen it sooner. But then, I guess it's because a part of me wanted this to happen to him."

"Why?" Cosmo asked in honest confusion, his eyes wide with hurt and shock.

"To set things right, I suppose." the pink-haired fairy murmured sadly, gazing downward tearfully, "It's nice to have him to ourselves again, and forever this time, but the way he was... it was only part of him. And he's changing now, because of everything."

"We tell him?"

"No!" Wanda whispered fiercely, turning a serious glare on her husband, "He can't find out! He must never know and we have to make sure he doesn't do anything to jeopardize the truth! We saw what happened to Anti-Cosmo when he went to see how much of it was exposed! Worse stuff could happen to us!" She gestured towards the boy. "Think of how much suffering he could go through... because of us..."

"No." Cosmo corrected coldly, "Because of me. He suffers because of me." He shook his head and pressed a hand to his temple. "Ow... Head hurts. Going beddy-bye." he whimpered and fluttered away, heading for the bedroom he and Wanda shared. She watched him leave worriedly, then glanced back at Timmy a final time.

"My sweet little godchild, that is who you are and that is who you will ever be." she murmured and flew away herself.

* * *

It was the sound of his phone ringing that woke Timmy up. Bleary-eyed and unwilling to lift his head from the softness of the pillows, he reached out to his bedside table, fumbled for the cell phone, then dragged it towards himself. A flick of the wrist and he pressed it to his ear.

"Hello?" he slurred into the phone, half aware of the voice speaking softly at the other end, "Wha-?"

_"I just wanted to know how you were doing. I've been trying to call you for ages now."_ Tootie's voice came clearer and the brunet forced himself closer to wakefulness, _"The Others were worried about you... me most of all... You looked so pale today."_

"Like Death warmed over?" Timmy joked faintly, shifting around on the bed to find a more comfortable position in which to lie and talk at the same time. He glanced at his clock and winced at the time; nine p.m. He'd slept for five hours easy. Whatever was draining his magic was really putting a dent in his lifestyle.

_"Heh, yeah. I guess you've heard all the morbid jokes already."_ Tootie chuckled.

"I've lived them. So to speak. Anyway, I'm fine now. I just needed some rest, that's all." the brunet returned and managed a small grin, "So, what's up? Anything you want to talk about or is this just a call to be sure I haven't decided to run into the Grim Reaper's arms?"

_"I was thinking... about that energy you picked up on in the school. You know... where you died..."_ Timmy sat up at those words, a serious expression crossing his face.

"What about it? That much negative energy felt like a sting, and I'm kind of surprised that none of the anti-fairies were flocking around it." he murmured.

_"That kinda had me worried, too, so I did some looking up on energies being emitted upon death in my books. There was a lot of negativity in your body when you died and it must have been partially released when you fell. Something was making you mad or upset or something at the time you were killed."_ Tootie explained and Timmy could hear the sounds of pages being turned, _"Do you remember anything that could have upset you that day?"_

"Not really. And if that was only part of my negative energy, and it sure felt like a lot to me, then where's the rest of it? Where did the rest of that energy go?" he asked worriedly, "I'm a Hero; Heroes don't have darkness or negativity in them! Right?" There was a long silence and Timmy gripped the phone tightly, fear rising in him. No, please, no. "Right? Tootie, I don't have darkness! I'm a good person!" he cried imploringly, "Tell me I'm a good person! I'm a Hero! A **Hero**!"

_"When you attacked Sanjay... and nearly killed Remy... those were signs of darkness... when you let your anger rule you..."_ Tootie whispered softly, _"Timmy, I'm sorry, but everyone has darkness in them. Even Danny Phantom. That's why he is the way he is, I think. Whatever did that to him, it made his darkness win."_ Timmy got up, pacing nervously as he shook his head.

"No, no, no! He's a good person! He's a Hero and so am I! We don't have darkness! This is just something that was forced on us! I didn't hurt Sanjay, right? Remy didn't get hurt, right?" he babbled.

_"Are you afraid of what could happen to you, if you let your darkness win?"_

"You don't understand... I could... I have power now... I don't..." he stammered and stopped, taking a deep breath to try to calm himself. No good getting worked up over this.

_"It's because of that whole Evil Timmy thing, isn't it?"_ Tootie questioned softly. Again, Timmy tightened his grip on the phone, eyes wide with shock and horror.

"You... you know? How did you know about... that...?" he croaked out and looked around frantically, imagining cameras and microphones picking up his every word, every motion. The vision of that freakish living room with its massive Death Laser flashed into his mind for the briefest moments.

_"Chester told me stories of the day you went crazy in school and beat the crap out of Crocker. You also destroyed several rooms, ripped apart a good portion of the textbooks, started a food fight, mauled a janitor and crammed Francis into the nearest locker with a pair of rats. Or so the rumors went. I was surprised no one called the police on you, though if all of that was true then you probably would have torn into the cops, too."_

"It wasn't my fault! Well, not entirely, but...!" Timmy stammered and sighed in defeat, "Look, I don't know why that negative energy was there, but I swore to myself that I would never give in to it. I promised Danny and I promised Cosmo and Wanda. I'm promising it to everyone and... I'll promise it to you." He felt his face grow faintly warm. "I promise... I will never turn bad. Not again."

_"Promises can be broken."_

"Then can you promise **me** something?" Timmy asked her softly, gazing out of his window at the city, "If... if I break my promise... will you save the world and stop me? I don't want to hurt anyone... especially you..." There was silence on the other end and he sighed again. "Please, Tootie, this is important. Sam promised Danny; can _you_ promise _me_?"

_"Why would she do that? She's Danny Fenton's girlfriend."_

"Never mind why, just tell me if you will."

_"All right. I promise I won't let you do anything that could hurt us. But I'm going to make sure you stay a Hero and don't lose against your darkness."_ She laughed haltingly. _"I'll kick your butt if you even think about doing bad things with your magic!"_ Timmy smiled sadly.

"Thanks. I... I'd better go. I want to see how Danny's doing." he murmured.

_"Okay. Take care. G'night, Timmy."_ Tootie returned softly. She sounded as if she was going to say something more, but she hung up instead and the young immortal set the phone down on the bedside table again.

She knew. That still made his stomach turn. She knew about what he had done as a kid, about that darker side of him. The side of him that scared him as badly as that Dark Danny guy scared his cousin. And yet she was willing to stand by him through it, even face off against him if that slim chance of his dark half reappearing ever came up. He could already picture her in his mind, taking up a battle stance with sword and dagger in hand, glaring him down and daring him to hurl anything in the way of magic at her.

He chuckled. She'd have him gutted open on the street before he could move.

But as pleasant, if not morbid, as the thought was, as strangely appealing it would be to see Tootie stand before him, fully decked out in battle gear, he was still firmly convinced that it would never happen. After all, he was a Hero now, and true Heroes had no darkness. There was no way he could ever fall victim to that kind of corruption, the same way Danny really couldn't be turned evil. Someone had to force it on him, and look how far it got them. His cousin was fighting it off, proof that he was a true Hero and completely in the light. Timmy nodded to himself as he headed for the teleporter disk in the next room over. Yes, that's right. He was a Hero and had no darkness. He just had to keep reminding himself of that.

* * *

Archives of the Twin Blades~

Timmy looked around as he walked down the halls of the building. Dozens of androids, some he recognized, others he didn't, wandered from room to room, talking, working, some silent as were their natures. Even though there was a lot of activity, the Archive just seemed eerie. It didn't feel right. Was it because of what was happening with Caleb and Danny?

"Sam! Tucker!" he called out as he made his way to the medical ward, one of few floors in the building that was completely off limits to the public. Caleb often said that the best place to hide Heroes and their help was in plain view, and what plainer view than a public museum? "Hey! Is anyone...?" he began to call again, then halted as he heard voices in one of the rooms of the medical wing.

"I'm sorry. I tried my best, but there wasn't enough power." Caleb's voice murmured sorrowfully.

"You did your part. That is all anyone can ask of you." a second voice put in calmly, "Everything is as it should be."

"No, it's not. But... I suppose... it doesn't matter... I failed to restore him. The Eternal Sword Pin... it shattered... I don't have anything left to help him with." the android sobbed, "I promised to keep him safe, and I failed! My dear Raven, I'm so sorry!"

"We can't give up! There has to be a way to reverse this!" Sam's voice declared fiercely, "Look at how much the Pin was able to fix Danny! Sure, he's still got red on his suit and his eyes and aura are also still red, and so what if Topaz Mode still won't activate; he's getting better and that's what really counts!"

"Yeah! He even responded to his shuttle model! He actually reached for it and put it in his cage instead of trying to blow it up like he usually does!" Tucker exclaimed, "We just have to find another way of fixing ectomana, right, Clockwork?"

"It is already being restored. Don't worry. Danny is under my care as much as he is under yours, Caleb, and more so, considering I dealt with him before you even knew he existed." the other voice, probably the one Tucker called Clockwork, remarked.

"And how, pray tell, is Raven to be restored when the most powerful magical artifact in my possession has become little more than broken trinkets of an age long dead?" Caleb hissed angrily.

"You are letting your emotions rule your logic again. As I recall, there is another way to convert mana, even while in this blended form." the strange voice went on, "And I will take my leave now, as he is currently standing right outside this door and was somewhat late in his arrival." Timmy blinked, startled, then cried out in alarm as the door suddenly opened and he fell into the room with a loud crash. There was a flash of light that vanished just outside his peripheral vision and he got up, rubbing his head with a pained wince as Caleb glared down at him, tears staining the artificial skin on his face.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he snapped, "Didn't I tell you to stay in your territory and protect it? Why doesn't anyone listen to me?"

"Hey, Caleb, chill out already, okay?" Sam shot at him as she helped Timmy to his feet, "He's just a kid and he's as worried about Danny as the rest of us!" The android looked taken aback.

"But-!"

"She's right, man. You totally need to take a break or something." Tucker added in, folding his arms over his chest, "If for nothing else than the fact that you are seriously creeping me out over how you keep calling Danny 'Raven' now. It's been four years since you called him that!" Caleb looked at him in surprise as well.

"But-!" he stammered out again and took on a hurt expression, "It's just... it slipped out... I didn't realize..."

"What was going on? Did I interrupt something important?" Timmy asked in confusion, baffled by the tension in the room. The android huffed in sudden indignation and turned up his nose, marching out of the room with all the fury of a scorned ladies' man. "And what's with him?"

"He's just upset about stuff." Sam told him, "Mostly the fact that the Eternal Sword Pin broke and Danny's still stuck in that 'Almost Evil' phase." She gave him a faint smile. "I'm sure he'll snap out of it sooner or later, but in the meantime, he's been doing better. Did you come to visit him?" Timmy nodded dumbly and the two older teens walked with him to the next room.

"I'm sure he'll appreciate a visit from his cousin a lot more than he appreciated that Nasty Burger I brought for him." Tucker remarked with a sigh of exasperation, "It took ages to clean that stuff off the walls!"

"We just have to warn you, though." Sam added to the brunet, "His transformation rings are a little out of control. They keep going off, but they don't change him back to Fenton form. Still, it's a good sign. Anytime they fire, a part of that evil outfit goes away." She finally opened the door and the three of them entered the room to see the glowing prison where Danny Phantom was sealed away.

It was a dome-shaped structure, that much Timmy could figure out right away. It had a translucent blue color to it that stumped him for a moment before it dawned on him that it was the Ghost Shield. Unlike other Shields in the world which were green and only blocked ghosts, this one had a modification to block his cousin's specific ectomana no matter what form he was in, Fenton or Phantom, and was perfect for holding him in place, provided he didn't get irritated and just Ghostly Wailed it to pieces. Which he had done on several occasions before, namely to get out of whatever scheme Caleb had concocted in the way of 'research', though the somewhat controlled explosions were only enough to send Timmy, Cosmo and Wanda rolling away in laughter. The android would throw up his hands in exasperation at the ruined chamber and Danny would be perched on a mostly devastated chandelier, sticking his tongue out at him with all the wizened maturity of a five-year-old.

Oh, the memories.

Within the dome, Danny Phantom sat on his bed sullenly, hands clamped protectively around his shuttle model as he glared out at them warily, his voice still sealed away by the black strip of fabric Sam had crafted out of spiritual magic to block his use of Ghostly Wail. Timmy reached out to the dome and placed his hand on it much the same way Sam had done long before him. The halfa gave him a fiercer stare, almost as though daring him to try breaching the dome and enter his prison.

"C'mon, Cousin Danny, you can beat this." Timmy whispered, the memory of his conversation with Tootie still fresh and haunting in his mind, "Beat the darkness and be the Hero I **know** you are." He shut his eyes, bringing to his mind's eye the image of his cousin as he was now. Tucker and Sam stepped closer to him, watching him in confusion.

"Dude? What do you think you're doing?" the older techno-geek asked warily. Sam looked at the brunet, then up at the halfa, then back to Timmy before gasping in realization.

"Tucker! Remember what Clockwork said? Something else was changing Danny's ectomana! I think he was talking about Timmy!" she exclaimed in surprise.

The image of his cousin as he had been before, as he remembered, came to Timmy's mind and he clenched his jaw as he forced that image over the one of the corrupted Danny Phantom. He wanted his cousin back, he wanted the darkness in him to leave, to be gone, to be sent away and leave only the pure goodness that was his one and only cousin, Danny Fenton. Immediately, he felt his strength draining away and the distant cries of shock and amazement from the two teens by him, mingled with a soft grunt of pain from his cousin.

Was this why his magical energy had been leeching away? He'd had his cousin in his thoughts all the time, in the back of his mind, trying to place memories of who he really was over the reality of what had become of him. Was he in some way trying to convert Danny back to who he had been? From as far away as he was? Was he **that** crazy and desperate to get him back?

The images were splitting apart in his mind and he set his focus on forcing them together, whimpering as he fought his rapidly fading consciousness to overwrite the corrupt Danny in his mind's eye with the true one he remembered. He could hear voices telling him both to stop what he was doing and to hang on a little longer, conflicting cries that tried to confuse him. He clenched his fists tightly together, brought them close to his body as he doubled over from the effort of cleansing his cousin. So close; he almost had the image complete in his mind.

_"M-Mana..."_ he struggled to say, a burning hot feeling washing through his body as though trying to incinerate him from the inside out, _"M-Mana Revertere!"_ He let out a scream as the image in his mind shone too brightly for his mind to cope with and a small explosion detonated right before him, hurling him away from the Ghost Shield. He heard his name being cried out, then nothing more as he slammed forcefully against the stone wall of the Archive and collapsed in a heap, fading from awareness once more.

* * *

Happy Trails Trailer Park~

It was one thing to have a mobile home bigger than most eighteen-wheelers, but it was another to have the thing with a ten-foot wall surrounding it 'for safety'. Chester huffed in exasperation as he threw his baseball against the brick. It was a nightly routine, one he developed soon after gaining the new home and the massive fence. Once his father, Bucky McBadbat, headed off to bed, still in a state of dumbstruck awe at the fact that some major corporation just handed him a huge new home, a sizable bank account and then tossed in a job to boot for no reason other than his kid was pals with some outsider with friends in high places, Chester would take his ball, bat and mitt, and head outside to relieve tensions the only way he knew how.

Totally messing up at baseball.

Tonight, as it had been for most nights now, he only took his ball and just hurled it against the wall as though the force may someday tear it down and let him see beyond it freely again. Not that he was complaining about his new digs, far from it; he liked the new mobile home. It certainly was roomier than the previous one, which was a very cheap replacement of their first trailer, which had been stolen at the Dimmsdale Science Fair some few years ago by a weird kid with big hair who babbled on about junk Chester really didn't care about and continued insisting he wasn't Timmy. Well, it was obvious now that he wasn't; Timmy couldn't work a welding torch to save his own skin. The wall, however, he could live without, and the desire to tear it down drove him to try bashing it to pieces with the baseball.

He threw the ball again, harder this time, as his mind inevitably jumped to the main reason why he stayed up so late now. It all had to do with a girl and hives. Or rather, a popular girl and his lack of hives. Chester ground his teeth as he stomped towards the ball bouncing away from him. As long as he could remember, he despised girls, didn't want any of them touching him, because the minute they made contact with him, he broke out in a nervous rash that itched like mad and made him want to drag himself through a pile of thorns just to have something else to take his mind off of it.

So when did that go away? When did contact with a girl leave him, not with a bad case of the screaming heebie-jeebies, but a strange fluttering feeling that refused to let go of him, even in the depths of his dreaming?

He halted, frozen in shock as someone else picked up the baseball and held it in one hand. Unblinking, he stared at the ball, then up at the face of his unexpected visitor.

"Hey. Can I ask why you're up so late?" Trixie inquired softly, walking up to him as she juggled the ball in one hand, tossing it up and catching it continuously without much thought to what she was doing. He backed away from her quickly and she stopped, looking at him strangely. "What's with you?" she added in confusion.

"What are **you** doing here?" Chester blurted out in shock, "It's, like, the freaking middle of the night!" The raven-haired Popular blushed slightly, then took up a nonchalant pose, arms folded over her chest as she held the baseball in her hand.

"Funny, didn't I ask first?" she remarked and smiled as he rubbed his head sheepishly.

"Oh, right. Well, I was just thinking about stuff." the blonde finally returned and gave her a stern look, "Now, you. What the heck are you doing all the way out here? Rich people wouldn't be caught dead on this side of the tracks!" Trixie shrugged vaguely, eyes wandering over the lot, the nearby trash cans, the massive mobile home.

"I just..." she began, flushing warmly as she continued to look at everything else but the teen standing before her with that grim expression. If she looked at him, she wouldn't be sure which she would do first, get embarrassed or laugh at him. He picked the strangest times to get into that Leader mode. "I guess I just wanted to see how you were doing." she finally admitted.

"Me? I'm fine." Chester replied in surprise, then quickly soured, turning away from her to glare at the wall that stared impassively back at him, "I'm not the one who was murdered by some random punk for no good reason while playing like an average, normal kid. Why don't you go play nurse to Timmy? It'll be your big chance to score points with him, right?"

"That's so mean of you to say." Trixie mumbled, digging the toe of her boot into the sod surrounding the mobile home, "I know Timmy can take care of himself. He's got all the power in the world to back him up, I just know it. He's probably at home, cooking up new magic spells or something like that."

"He's just a kid, Tricks, like the rest of us. He's not always in Hero mode." Chester returned icily, "He was exhausted, didn't you pay attention? He could barely walk before Wanda gave him that boost." Trixie winced and held the baseball up as a shield, hiding behind it as she kept her gaze on the ground. "You really don't know him at all." he added and she finally looked up at him, surprised.

"He's the Heart of Dimmsdale, the embodiment of all our hopes and dreams! He's the key to reviving the city, the one who can stop all those other kids from constantly wishing to die to be with him!" she exclaimed, "What **more** is there to know? If he doesn't get himself together and save us, we're _all_ gonna die!" She clenched her hands into fists, one still gripping the ball tightly as she shook them emphatically. "Timmy **has** to be the Hero! He's the only one who can do it!"

"You don't know him." Chester repeated softly, "He can be a Hero, but not when everyone and everything's dragging him down. He's just a kid; he needs to be able to just relax and chill without having to constantly worry that if he doesn't do this or act like that, all hell's gonna bust loose on Dimmsdale." He shook his head, "You don't know him, and I guess that means you don't know us, either." The girl blinked at him, puzzled, and he stood before her, arms spread out to his sides. "Different worlds, Tricks. We're the Others, the kids you and your Popular pals shoved around for years because we weren't rich like you, dressed like you, or acted and thought like you. Why would you give up a world you know and have a place in for the one **we** live in?"

"Well, what's different about you? What makes you better than the Populars?" Trixie demanded.

"That. We don't think we're better than them; we just wanna have fun and hang out with our friends. Have good times and all that junk. More fun than worrying over whether or not we got the newest shirt or how much we spent on a pair of shoes." the blonde remarked evenly and held out his hand, "Now, can I have my ball back? I'm not done thinkin'." Trixie huffed and straightened herself to her fullest height.

"What if I don't want to? You're just an Other; you have no right to tell **me** what to do!" she declared, glaring back at him. He scowled and she fought the urge to laugh again; honestly, what was the Man Upstairs thinking when this kid was born, to give him such a cute scowl?

"Hey, you gave up your place as a Popular when you joined us, so you can't pull that card on me!" Chester shot back and held his hand out again, "Now, I'm being nice about this, okay? Gimme back my ball so I can get back to knockin' this stupid wall down."

"Make me!" Trixie taunted and stuck her tongue out, then blinking in surprise as the blonde brought himself up to full height as well, standing before her with a strangely intense look.

"You are an Other and I am the Leader of the Others. You **will** follow my commands, both to survive in this city and to live with the rest of us in peace. You are **not** exempt from this." he told her in a low tone, "I want my baseball back; you **will** give it to me. That. Is. An. **Order**." He held out his hand and she silently placed the ball there, staring up at him in a mix of awe and shock that he _actually_ gave her an order. An order! Like if she wasn't rich and powerful and could pull strings to make his life hell if she so desired! She wrestled up some bravado and pouted at him.

"It's just a ball." she mumbled lamely.

"Thank you." Chester remarked, ignoring her words, and walked away from her, releasing the raven-haired Popular from whatever spell had been cast over her. She blinked rapidly, then shook her head and watched him throw the baseball against the wall again before running up to him.

"Hey! What did you do to me?" Trixie demanded, more than a little frightened by what had taken place. She hadn't felt so powerless before, compelled to respond to someone like some mindless marionette; whatever that was that he did, she was glad that all he wanted was that baseball he was chasing after again. "Chester! Pay attention! What did you do?" she yelled and he finally stopped, grabbing the ball and looking at her in confusion.

"What? What're ya talkin' about?" the blonde returned blankly and she refrained from slapping him upside the head.

"That thing you did." Trixie managed to say with some amount of calm, "Where you told me to give you the ball and I did. What did you do? I felt like I had almost no control over myself." Chester shrugged and threw the ball again.

"Peh, I dunno. I just do it when people don't listen to me. C'mon, I'm just head of the gang 'cuz I don't wanna go to school and see them getting the crap beat outta 'em by some punk who wants to be an ass for no reason." he remarked conversationally, "Wasn't easy, though. At first they were all 'Who died and made **you** boss?' which just set them and Tootie off to gettin' weepy again and then they'd all leave 'emselves open to attack." He scooped up the ball and rolled it in his hands. "Y'know, 'cuz Timmy had been the Others' leader first and Tootie seemed to have had a thing for him, which she still does apparently, so anytime they said that to me they'd remember him and then we'd **all** get into a depressed funk. Anyway, so they wouldn't listen to me when I told 'em where it was safe to go or when to run from trouble and stuff like that. So they kept gettin' beat up and I kept gettin' pissed off 'cuz I promised Timmy at his grave that I'd take care of the gang for him." he went on and hurled the ball again, grinning at the satisfying _'Thunk!'_ of it slamming the brick. "So then this one day, I told them not to go by this one part of Dimmsdale, 'cuz I heard underground that some punks were gonna beat 'em up for kicks when they passed through it and, like usual, they ignored me." Trixie nodded with wide eyes, enthralled by the story.

"So what happened?" she asked, eager to hear the rest.

"Well, they went there and I had to chase after 'em 'cuz they took off without me. I showed up just as they got jumped by the local rats and well..." Chester sighed and held the ball in one hand, frowning down at it, "I wasn't thinking at the time; I just knew I couldn't let them get hurt again, so I ran in and took on the punks by myself. It was like five of them 'gainst one of me, so you can pretty much guess what happened from that." The Popular winced painfully; her imagination filled in the rest for her. Chester shook his head and resumed throwing the baseball again. "Well, when they finished having fun with me and left the bunch of us alone, I turned to the guys and told 'em that they really oughtta pay more attention to what I tell 'em, 'cuz I couldn't afford to keep goin' to the hospital every time they decide to go runnin' off on me even though Dimmsdale has us on that welfare Medicaid crap, but whatever.

"Maybe it was the way I said it or how bad I got beat up in their place, but ever since then they've done exactly what I said when I said it. I don't really remember much about what it is I said or anything, but I know I felt different. Or maybe that was just the concussion talking, I dunno."

"It's a commanding presence." Trixie murmured, "It's not quite the same as what Timmy's got when he's leading us into a fight, but..."

"So why are you here again?" Chester asked blankly, blinking at her as if seeing her for the first time that night. The teen's face fell and she sighed. Why was she in 'like' with this guy again?

"I came to see how you were doing. I told you already." she repeated in exasperation.

"Did you check on the rest of the Others, or am I just special?" the blonde asked absently, tossing the ball again. Trixie blanked on that. How exactly was she to answer that? It was kind of a loaded question and she had no idea how he would react to whatever answer she would give. She could lie, say she had dropped in on the rest of the gang and he was last on the list, and face the possibility that she would lose points with him, and Lord only knows how hard or easy it was to gain points from Chester. It was nearly impossible to regain lost points when it came to Timmy; he wasn't as trusting and forgiving as he used to be.

Or she could be honest, and he might end up getting weirded out by her, instantly losing a ton of points from him and probably getting black-listed by the rest of Team Turner. Though, what were the odds that he would be offended by the idea that she decided to grace him with her presence, him and him alone? The fact that she bothered to wish herself to this park just to check on him -and find herself surprised to see him outside and chucking that baseball against the wall continuously- should have him on his knees and thanking his lucky stars!

But that was before she butted heads with the commanding aura of the true Leader of the Others and came away the loser.

"Hey, did you have a brain-fart or somethin'?" Chester suddenly asked, waving a hand before her face and she reacted to that, slapping it away and blinking in surprise as he yelped and jumped back from her, clutching his hand as though she had burned him viciously. He blinked at his hand, looked puzzled, then quickly recomposed himself. "Ugh. Fine. If it's gone, it's gone. To hell with why or how or when." he muttered under his breath and sighed, "Okay, so I'm perfectly fine, see? What now?"

"I don't know." Trixie replied honestly, grateful for the fact that whatever had startled him obviously made him forget his previous question and spared her the difficulty of answering. She rubbed her arms as the chill of the night fully set in and her lack of movement and heated emotions left her open for the cold. "I guess I should just head back home and get some sleep. We only have, like, three days left before the next Spire attack."

"Yeah, and still no sign of whether Caleb got the armor for Vicky and Chip started or not." Chester sighed as he took off his jacket. He walked up to her and dropped it around her shoulders, "Here. That oughtta keep you warm." He went back to throwing the baseball again. "Anyway, we both better get some shut-eye. We've got a lot of training to do tomorrow to make up for those days in school that we just couldn't make it to the Tower during lunch." He scowled briefly as he finally stopped tossing the ball, "I am really hating that Remy guy for bringing in new traps and junk. Timmy keeps running off to bust 'em up and all we can do is cover the fact that he's doing anything weird on campus."

"Soon enough we'll stop him for good and Dimmsdale will come alive again." Trixie said confidently. After all, the Heart of Dimmsdale was back. But Chester didn't look all that reassured, a faintly evasive expression flickering across his face before disappearing.

"Yeah..." he murmured and then gave her a shy grin. "Want me to walk you home?" he offered. She returned the smile.

"Thanks, but I'll just use a wish. Good-night, Chester." she replied and touched fingers to her pendant.

"'Night, Trixie." the blonde returned once she was safely wished away, then turned and slammed the baseball against the wall one last time with all the force he had. With a dejected sigh, he turned and trudged back into the mobile home.

* * *

_The streets of Dimmsdale. Buildings soared high above, reaching for the heavens, curving far and away into the distance. Ghosts of people walking down the sidewalks on their daily routine passed by, oblivious in their rituals. The Dark Spires towered with the normal buildings, a full set of eight. Tall, menacing, cruel, then one by one they crumbled, collapsing as though each had been made of ash and a gust of wind touched them in just the right way._

_From each broken Spire, a light rose, shining skyward like a beacon, bright and beautiful. The beams curved higher, shimmering a brilliant blue-white. The sky was tinted a rosy pink, and the city was awash with color and life._

_"Do you like them?" a voice asked and a familiar boy walked up with a smile, perfectly white teeth displayed openly, proudly, in that happy grin, "Aren't they just the most beautiful sight in the world?" He looked over at the lights and sighed in pleasure, "Such lovely light." After a moment, he relaxed into a casual pose, catching the thumb of one hand into a loop for his belt on his jeans._

_"I saved the city, I saved the world, but I still couldn't save myself." he murmured softly, a touch more serious than before. He glanced up, his eyes glittering with emotion. "But that's all right. Because of everything, I know why I exist. I know why I was allowed to escape Death." he added and smiled again, a small grin that showed just the tips and edges of his teeth, "I'm going to lead the world into a new age. The one it truly deserves to have. And these lights are going to help me."_

_How?_

_"My life was affected by so many people, but I did some considering and I chose eight people to be my special lights, the same lights that led and shaped my life, my heart." he went on, still watching the beacons, "Every one of them has made a big impact in how I live, how I died, and how I continued after death. They will help me bring the new era to the world. It's why I was given this power, this magic." He laughed lightly. "It's going to be great! You'll see; everyone will get what they deserve for being without me for so long, for being able to go on without the Heart of Dimmsdale."_

_The new era..._

_"You're going to help me, too, right? Well, in your own special way. Everyone is going to help me, but only those special few will light my candles for the future." he went on and waved a hand carelessly up at the beacons, "One for each of them. I wanted it to be... symbolic." They continued gazing at the light before he suddenly gasped and held a hand to his heart, clutching his shirt as soft, strangled cries of distress fell from his mouth._

_What's wrong? Worry, concern, panic; no, no, no...!_

_"I... I'm okay...!" he finally gasped and coughed, "It's okay... Just something that comes up now and then..." His breathing normalized and he straightened, exhaling slowly in relief. "Sorry." he apologized with a shy smile, a beautiful smile, "Never-ending battle; I promise I'll do something about it when I get the chance." He looked back up at the light._

_"But first, let's do something about the Spires. After all, if they stay up, I won't be able to fulfill my destiny." he whispered, "To show the world, the whole world..."_

* * *

A/N: I leave it up to your imagination who it was that was having the dream. I know who it is, but that's my little secret. :3

I'm not sure when exactly Chester developed his unique 'ability'. It just kind of manifested over the duration of me writing the Burning Black series, but this is the first time he's been called out on it.

Those who have been reading Netherworld Nightmare will see the return of Caleb calling Danny 'Raven', which he stopped doing when the events of Phantom Planet took place. I'll probably post that later so you get the full explanation as to why Caleb stopped.

There's a lot of clues here as to what's gonna happen in the future. Let's see if you can catch them all...


	5. Chapter 5

5

When he woke, Timmy found himself in bed again. Not the oversized one he had in his room back at the Neogene Manor, but the normal average bed that was kept in his room at the Archives. Shifting, he managed to get himself to a sitting position, one hand lifting to rub his head as he tried to sort out exactly what had happened to him. The events of last night were little more than a vague blur of light and color, and the headache that pounded in his brain did little to help him remember.

"Good morning, Sport. Are you feeling better?" Wanda's voice asked gently and he opened his eyes again, looking up with faint surprise at his fairy godparents fluttering before him. "Caleb brought you in here." she answered his silent question, "And we came when our Timmy Sense went off. I thought you were still in bed; why did you come to New York?" Timmy gave her a confused stare, then gasped in alarm as everything rushed back to him.

"Danny!" he cried, leaping out of bed and racing for the door, his godparents flying after him in a rush.

"Timmy! Wait! You're not supposed to get out of bed until we make sure you're okay first!" Wanda exclaimed, waving her arms in a panic as the brunet dashed for the medical wing, bare feet moving so fast it was almost as if they hardly touched the floor.

He remembered now; trying to get his cousin back to normal, the explosion of light in his head as he forced the memory of Danny Phantom into place, the blast that erupted in front of him at the moment of fusion. What happened after that? Did it work? Was Danny better now... or did he just make things worse? He checked the doors of each room in the wing, searching for the one that held his cousin.

"Nope. Not here. Nuh-uh. Not this one." he panted out and stuck his head in another, almost jerking out in reflex before catching himself and looking back in. "Sam! Tucker! Where is he?" he blurted out frantically. The two older teens blinked at him in surprise.

"Getting breakfast like he said he would." Tucker returned and blinked, "Oh, wait, you're talking about Danny, right?" The brunet hurried in and looked up at the Goth, fearful of the answer but still craving it.

"Sam, is he okay? Is Danny all right? What I did, last night; did it do anything to him?" he begged, "Tell me he's okay!" Sam stared down at him for a moment before finally giving him a tired grin, reaching down to ruffle his hair.

"He's asleep, but he's fine. And back to normal too, thanks to you." she returned and gestured towards the glass wall before her, similar to the one in the Ivory Tower's ICU, "Caleb isn't sure what it was you did, but he was grateful that you were able to pull it off. Though, he also looked a little scared by it." Timmy walked up to the glass as Cosmo and Wanda poofed into the room and hovered behind him, still worried over his health. Peering into the room beyond the wall, the brunet blinked at the familiar menagerie of machines and attendants tending to instruments as his older cousin slept peacefully in bed.

"He's still in Phantom form." Timmy murmured, then blinked and looked up at Sam, "Scared? Why would Caleb be scared?"

"Apparently whatever it is you did wasn't supposed to be possible without magitechnology to help you." Tucker supplied and gazed through the window himself, "He's holding the form with ecto crystals until he completely heals with his ghost powers. Considering the damage he took while he was gone, and I'm guessing he fought pretty rough to try getting out of being kidnapped and all, it's gonna be a while before he's healthy enough to do anything."

"Why not just use magic to heal him?" Timmy asked and lifted his hands, "I'll just cast _Cure_ and we'll be done." Sam reached down and closed her hand over his, shaking her head.

"We can't do that. We're not sure what you did to change Danny back to normal, and Caleb doesn't want to risk hurting him in any way until he knows for sure that he's okay. You rewrote his ectomana signature from memory; throw on anything else that's mana-based and we're not sure what will happen." she told him softly, "So we have to let him recover on his own. It'll be slow, but it'll be safer." The brunet blinked up at her, then sighed and nodded slowly. A knock at the door and the group turned to see the android they spoke of enter and fold his arms over his chest.

"Breakfast is ready. Now that things are calming down a little here, I'd like a report on how things are in Dimmsdale." Caleb remarked dryly and lifted an eyebrow at the visible flinch on the boy's face, "Oh lovely. I get the feeling that I'm going to **love** this." Timmy rubbed his head sheepishly.

"Ah, not as much as Genis is gonna love it. Heh." he chuckled hesitantly.

Two Hours Later~

_"You let him assault the Ivory Tower?"_ Caleb shrieked in a fury, slamming his hands down onto the table hard enough to crack the stone slab that comprised the desktop. Timmy flinched again, the mana shield blooming into existence around him out of instinct. Several android 'Heroes' in the room fled immediately, a menagerie of colorful capes and costumes blurring as they made their dash for the door. He watched them run and felt extremely relieved that he had chosen to leave out the details on finding out he'd been murdered, not killed in an accident as both Caleb and Team Phantom still believed. The android would probably have thrown an even bigger fit, if that was even possible. "While everyone was **inside** the building? Do you realize you could have let everyone get killed because you weren't vigilant enough to monitor your enemy's movements?" the redhead barked out angrily, "How could you do something so **stupid**?"

"He had a nullifier; I couldn't move!" Timmy whimpered, hunching his shoulders as he looked down at his hands.

"Don't yell at him! He did all that he could at the time! At least he had our best interests at heart; the Tower could withstand more damage than it took, long enough for him to gather his strength and strike back against Remy!" Wanda snapped at the android. Caleb scowled at her, then sat back down in a huff, ignoring the three teens before him giving each other sidelong looks.

"Ugh, fine. I'll get Genis to work on moving funds around to repair the Tower. So you have two additional fighters on your team now?" he managed to ask civilly, "That explains the work being done in the lab on new armor. I'll have it sent to you when I get the all clear that they're done." He finally broke into a small grin, looking faintly mischievous. "And you sabotaged the Dark Spires' network connection? Perhaps there's hope for you yet." he added and drummed his fingers against the desk, "We're improving the mana shield generator for your use. Once the final tests have run and we finish the preliminary units, we'll begin attaching the generators to the armor. Also, I plan on activating the magitech threads in the armor. This will allow your friends to carry the armor at all times and change into it in an instant. Hopefully, this will give them additional protection just in case another incident like this arises." Timmy brightened with interest, dropping his shield to better see the android.

"Really? Cool! How?" he asked excitedly and the android tapped at one wrist.

"Each set of armor has a band on the right gauntlet. All your friends have to do is tap the runes on the band and the armor will meld into the mana around them. The band will remain around their wrist so they can tap the runes once more to call the armor." he explained simply, "Easy enough for even you to grasp." He sighed then and looked somewhat reluctant. "Though I would prefer if you waited until both Danny and I are able to aid you, I'm afraid that I must agree with your decision to push for the continued destruction of the Spires. I can only hope that your team, as it stands now, is powerful enough to destroy it without us." Caleb went on and ran a hand through his hair, "I would really like it if you didn't move in, but those things are cancelling mana along with magic, and if they continue at their rate of perfecting the nullification field, it won't be long before the whole world is destroyed."

"Well, never fear! The gang and I are gonna hit the next Spire in a few more days and since we cut the network, it won't be able to blab about our tactics to the other Spires!" Timmy declared with mock confidence, unable to keep a small waver out of his voice. He grinned hugely, praying that the android didn't pick up on it. Perhaps not, he looked kind of distant, like he wasn't paying attention to him anymore. Timmy blinked at him, sighed, then got up. "I'd better get home, then, if I can't do anything else to help Danny." he murmured, "You'll let me know when he wakes up, right?" Caleb snapped back to alertness as Sam and Tucker agreed and wished him luck.

"Hm? Oh, yes, of course." the android added and looked pensive again, "Yes, that's right; you were the one who did this, returning his ectomana to its former state." The brunet gave him a strange look, then left the table, his godparents still looking relatively worried as they followed him to the teleportation room.

* * *

Dimmsdale~

"As near as I can tell..." Remy remarked, studying the holographic images of Team Turner intently, "...that mongrel has been doing exceedingly well against me because of this _team_ effort thing." He paced back and forth before them, a frown on his face. Every single last member was up there; he'd been studying them all for quite some time now. Well, almost all of them, as he hadn't thought to add in Chip Skylark. He honestly thought the singer was dead, but lately he was beginning to wonder if _anyone_ in Dimmsdale stayed dead. What next; was Timmy Turner going to crawl out of his little grave and start bashing at his door with undead, accusing eyes any time now?

He quelled that line of thought right away. Best not borrow trouble, even if it is within one's own mind.

"Timothy has a great number of friends on his side." Juandissimo agreed carefully, "Perhaps this is a sign that what we are doing should not go on any longer. _Mi amigo_, think of the lives we are going to ruin if those Spires remain standing. Why not take his offer and just bring them down?"

"I can't afford to now, Juandissimo. Now hush and let me ponder over this." Remy returned, studying the group of holograms even harder, "Though you are right in pointing out that we are severely outnumbered when it comes to actually facing them on the battlefield. The anti-magic units are of little use in combating them, save for the nullifiers on Timothy, and those are taken out by the non-magical rapscallions." He paced a bit, thinking aloud. "I've tried cloning myself to deal with two of them, that Trixie witch and the Goth girl, but both were defeated by the rest of the group. Primarily by that abhorrent anti-fairy and the Goth's older sister. So what shall I do?"

The boy millionaire puzzled the question over in his mind. Timothy was obviously the greatest threat the team had, what with his magic and immortality and all, but toss in a nullifier and he was history. At least, in theory. The moment a device like that appeared, though, Chester McBadbat would step in and either demolish it or come after Remy himself for the time it took for someone else to get rid of the nullifier. And though Timothy was the primary thorn in his side, the redneck was leader of that bunch of outcasts that mourned constantly over Turner. What he said, went, as far as they were all concerned.

And they had Trixie. She who had all the information he had told her in utmost confidence simply because he had her under control. Well, now that control was gone and she was spilling secrets left and right to that blasted brunet. Worse still, she was _choosing_ to consort with that trailer trash hick! Over **him**! Sacrilege!

"These three are the most threatening. Take these three out and the rest will fall." Remy finally decided firmly, pointing at the images of Timothy, Chester and Trixie, "In one fell swoop, those blasted Others will crumble to pieces and there will be no further motivation to undermine my plans!"

"And how are you to accomplish this, Remy?" Juandissimo asked dryly, "As long as they wear the symbol of the Heart of Dimmsdale, you cannot wish harm to them in any way, not even a pie in the face, nor can you wish them away from the city." Remy laughed confidently, waving a hand in dismissal of the doubts.

"Three on three, of course! I just have to find the counterparts to the redneck and the little bitch and make my wishes concerning them!" he declared, "And I bet I know just the right people for the jobs!" With that, he spun and marched out of the room with his godfather following, his laughter still lingering in the air.

* * *

All it took was a wish and he was standing within the room of a highly disturbed cheerleader. He looked around, unsettled by the many posters and photos of Trixie decorating the place, then set his eyes on Veronica as she sat before her vanity. Her brush was in one hand, a wig of long black hair completely enveloping her own blonde tresses. She even had that damned purple hairband adorning it for good measure. From where he stood, Remy could look into the mirror, saw her eyes looking down at the plush doll of Timmy in her free hand, a secretive smile on her face.

"Mine, mine, mine." she murmured, "When I show you to the world, you will be all mine." The smile grew wider. "After all, I'm going to be Trixie. I'll be Trixie just for you and you will never leave me." she added cheerfully and lifted her gaze to resume brushing her 'hair', pausing in shock as she finally noticed the blonde behind her. She spun in her chair, furious. "How the hell did you get in my room?" she hissed, gripping the brush until her knuckles turned white, "You total pervert!"

"I want to help you." Remy found himself saying quickly, his mind racing to piece together the story he needed to convince her to join him. Her mind was unstable; make a wish to force her to help him and chances were good that she'd completely snap and go out of his control. "You are convinced that Turner still exists..."

"Timmy **is** alive!" Veronica snapped, blue eyes flashing angrily, "I know he is! I've seen him! I've touched him! He's alive and he's hidden and I'm gonna find him and show him to the world!"

"Fine, fine. Yes." Remy corrected himself hastily, "Of course. You're right. He's alive." Good Lord, this child was dangerously close to the deep end, if not already in it. Touched him? How can one touch what doesn't exist? He clasped his hands together and cleared his throat. "Ah, Veronica, you want to have Timmy all to yourself, correct?"

"Like, duh! I just told you I was gonna find him!" the cheerleader growled. He forced a smile.

"Well, that's what I'm here for! I'm going to help you take Timmy all for yourself!" he agreed brightly, "I'll help you become Trixie and he will come out just for you!" Veronica glared at him suspiciously, then seemed to relax the tiniest bit, her shaking grip on the brush slackening ever so slightly.

"You... you want to help me?" she asked warily, "Help me get Timmy? And be Trixie?" Remy nodded.

"All your wishes and dreams. _I'll_ make them come true." he murmured and jumped slightly as her defenses went back up, the brush aimed at him like a weapon.

"Shut up! Only Timmy Turner can make my dreams and wishes come true! He's the Heart of Dimmsdale! That's, like, his power!" she growled. Remy held his hands up as a show of peace.

"Yes, yes! Of course! My mistake!" he exclaimed. This was a lot more work than he thought it would be. "I will help you find Timmy, if you can help me with a little something." Veronica narrowed her eyes at him, lower lip jutting out in a pout.

"You were always calling me crazy. You totally freak out the A-List and you act like such a total jerk to us! _Us!_ The rich and popular kids! **We're** the ones on top and you treat us like dirt!" she hissed, "So why should I help **you**?" Remy glanced around, then pointed at the first large poster of Trixie Tang he spotted.

"Her. You want to be Trixie, but you can't as long as she is around." he remarked smoothly, "That is why I want your help. She has been helping a rival of mine, and I want her gone. I want you to help me make her 'gone'. Understand?" Veronica blinked at the poster, then looked at him blankly.

"Trixie is helping someone?" she echoed, "Like, what for?"

"They're doing bad things to my buildings, she and Timothy." Remy went on, faking a hurt tone, "Such awful things. Surely she doesn't deserve Turner's love if she is destroying town property? Every time she does it, Timmy gets very sad." The girl's eyes flashed again, fury filling their bright blue color.

"Oh, she is _sooo_ gonna pay for that! Nobody hurts my precious Timmy Turner and gets away with it! Just for that, she doesn't even deserve to be part of the A-List anymore! Queen of the Populars, my ass!" she raged, "Where is she? I'm totally ripping her hair out chunk by chunk!" Remy smiled, rubbing his hands together almost gleefully.

"You will have your chance, dear Veronica, trust me!" he purred, "All you have to do is know that when the time is right, I will summon you to face off against Trixie." He spread his hands again, motioning as if to offer her a gift. "If you are able to take Trixie out of the game, then her place will be open for you. You will be the new Trixie and Timmy Turner's heart will be yours forever." The cheerleader smiled hugely, giggling as she clutched brush and doll tightly in her fists.

"Oh, yeah! That's what I want! He'll be mine! All mine!" she laughed and turned to face the poster, "You hear that? _Mine!_ He'll be mine, not yours! You don't deserve him! You _never_ deserved him! Your fault he left us, but he's back and he's **mine**!"

Remy took her maniacal laughter as a cue to leave.

* * *

The obvious choice to counter Trixie was Veronica, but countering Chester was going to take someone with greater power and strength. And in Dimmsdale, there was only one teen whose physical prowess could more than match the redneck street-brawler. Remy's next wish deposited him in the basement of the still self-exiled Francis. Juandissimo blinked in surprise at the jungle gym from where he stood by his godchild in peacock guise, then looked up in alarm when Remy made a sudden horrified gasp.

"What manner of deviltry is this?" the blonde whispered half in revulsion and half in fear. He took a step back as a figure moved from a work table across from him.

"Hmm. Another one. I thought I got enough sleep this time." Francis' voice remarked flatly as he emerged from the shadows into the light by the slowly rotating jungle gym, "And it's the rich one this time." He took in the other boy's stare and then looked up at the jungle gym. "I'm still trying to figure it out. Not quite there yet, but I blame Dimmsdale's collective dumbness. It's stuck on so long that it takes me forever to work through a single idea." he added. Remy opened and closed his mouth a few times, face pallid, then managed to regain some composure.

"I... I see. Francis, old chap, I have a proposition for you." he began and cleared his throat, shifting slightly in discomfort as he made a concentrated effort to not look at the jungle gym. "There has been a string of attacks on my towers by a terroristic little band of hooligans and I'm offering you a wondrous deal in exchange for your assistance in eliminating a certain little peasant." he went on. Francis gave him a suspicious glare and the blonde fidgeted nervously. Juandissimo fluffed his feathers in rising anxiety, ready to defend his godchild if any harm came to him.

"First time in ages anyone's asked me to pull a job for them." the gray-skinned teen finally muttered, "Can't say I like where it's going."

"If you get rid of Chester McBadbat, I'll use my power to free you from this house imprisonment. You'll be absolved of any guilt associated with Turner's death." the blonde finished quickly, "Think of it! You'll be able to leave this dustbin of a shack and move out of the city!" The other teen drew himself up, eyes narrowing further as Juandissimo edged closer to Remy.

"I don't believe he is buying it, _amigo_." he whispered and gulped as Francis shot him a look.

"That peacock just talked." he muttered, "I _really_ should be getting more sleep." He relaxed then and went back to studying the jungle gym. "And no. I'm not beating up any more kids. Look where hurting Timmy got us. For him, I won't lift a hand against anyone." Remy scowled and stepped forward.

"Listen, you behemoth! I'm offering you the opportunity of a lifetime to get out of this city with your life intact! All you have to do is make sure McBadbat is no longer able to lead the Others in any attacks on my Spires!" he snapped. Francis only glanced at him in boredom.

"You're the most annoying hallucination I've ever had." he commented, "But I guess that's better than the silence. Too much of that and I can't focus on my work quite as well." The boy millionaire blinked in shock. Hallucinations? Francis was having hallucinations? Dear Lord, the man had gone batty in only four years!

"Juandissimo! Change back!" he called over his shoulder and the peacock fluffed itself up again.

"Remy? What do you mean?" the disguised fairy hissed as low as he could, "I cannot expose myself to another human!"

"I wish you would reveal yourself!" Remy snapped and Juandissimo growled under his breath as he granted it, poofing out of that form and back to normal.

"Although it is nice to be back in my own sexy body, that is still the first time I've heard you make a senseless wish." the Latino grumbled and fluttered by him, "What was the point of this?" Francis continued ignoring them as Remy waved the fairy lower to converse in private.

"He's suffering from delusions, so he won't even register the fact that you are an actual fairy. I just need your help getting him convinced to help me! I won't risk a wish unless it is absolutely necessary." he whispered fiercely, "He's not as loopy as Veronica is now, I think, so it should be relatively safe to coerce him magically to follow my orders." He turned back to Francis as the gray-skinned teen finally decided to return to paying them some attention, eyebrow lifted at the sight of the fairy godfather.

"Yet another first. I must be having a creative spurt today." he muttered to himself, "So when do you two run out of here? Am I going to have to explain my findings again?"

"Look, all you have to know is that it is imperative you stop Chester McBadbat from interfering with my plans." Remy told the older teen, "I am attempting to bring Dimmsdale under my control so that it can be revived, and that metal-mouth brat is thwarting my every attempt!"

"I remember saying no the first time. I don't think I've changed my mind since then."

"You get to beat people up again! Free of charge!"

"Now I'm getting déjà vu. Didn't I also say I wasn't hurting people anymore?"

Juandissimo watched his godchild grow more frustrated and immediately struck a pose, snapping a shirt free with the motion.

"Remy, _mi amigo_, it is obvious that nothing you say to him will convince him to help you. Let us leave this most unsexy of places and forget the matter completely!" he declared as Francis watched the torn fabric fall to the floor.

"That looks like it was a designer shirt. What an expensive hallucination." he mused aloud. Remy brought his hand down over his face in exasperation. This was going nowhere very slowly and he had to wrap this up before _he_ snapped.

"If you will not do as I say when I say it, then I shall simply force you to obey!" he hissed, "Juandissimo! I wish Francis would get rid of Chester McBadbat when I command it the next time Neogene attacks a Spire!" The Latino fairy flinched but waved his wand, spreading the magic over the older teen. He blinked at the cloud of dust, then lifted an eyebrow.

"And now I get special effects. Maybe I ate something that didn't agree with me?" Francis murmured. Remy huffed indignantly and brushed imaginary dust from his jacket.

"That should do it. Now, I wish we were home. I've had enough of this tomfoolery and need to wash myself of this filthy place." he finished bitingly and both he and the fairy vanished in a blast of purple smoke. Francis narrowed his eyes at the exit.

"That's not how my hallucinations normally end. Guess old Crock-Pot was onto something long ago." he muttered and turned back to studying the jungle gym, "Almost. I almost figured it out. How did it turn without anyone seeing it?"

* * *

Dimmsdale Rooftops~

Timmy looked down at the cell phone in his hand as Cosmo and Wanda floated by him. Standing on the roof of one of the higher buildings in the city, the brunet had spent much of the morning just calling each of his friends to let them know how things fared in New York. They all sounded excited and cheered by that, though Vicky still wasn't sure exactly who he was talking about and Chip only asked, rather lamely, who the heck Danny Phantom was and if he had a record deal he could share later. Timmy managed a small grin at the phone and slid it back into his pocket. Sighing in relief, he let the wind continue passing over him, breathing in the scent of mana and magic in the air. Fifty percent freed; Dimmsdale was well on its way to recovering its lost magic and then all the godchildren there would be safe. All that would be left is the attempt to get them to move on.

That car still hadn't moved.

Timmy sighed harshly and sat down, swinging his legs over the edge of the building as he scowled down at the vehicle. It had pulled up there next to the bank some time ago and a couple of men had strolled into the building like they owned the place. He'd seen this before at times in New York, although he didn't really learn much about the situations because the guy in the spider suit was constantly yelling at him to go home. All he knew was that this was usually what happened just before the alarms went off in the bank and all heck broke loose.

Well, not in Dimmsdale. Not today. Not while he was still in this sour mood over the possibility that there **might** still be some darkness in him.

"Wanda, I wish the tires on that car down there were all flat." Timmy remarked dryly, watching the group below him with veiled irritation as his godmother waved her wand and granted his wish. Right on time, the bank alarms began screaming bloody murder and the two men dashed out of the building with satchels of money in their clutches. They darted into the car and tried to make their escape, but the vehicle didn't get very far on four flat tires. Still, the attempt to continue escaping got on Timmy's nerves.

"Cosmo, I wish their engine fell out." he added and with a burst of green smoke the car's engine heaved itself out of the hood and abandoned the car in disgust. The vehicle died and it wasn't long before the men tried to jump out of the vehicle themselves. "Oh, great. _Now_ they decide to think about things?" Timmy sighed in exasperation and took the Hanuman's Rod from its strap on his pack. Spinning it above himself once, he pointed it down at the car and focused. _"Ofer Hoetu!"_ The car doors began to melt and sealed themselves shut, trapping the bank robbers within the vehicle for the police to collect once they arrived.

"One more point for the good guys!" Cosmo remarked brightly, poofing up a scoreboard as the numbers flipped over to change the tally, "What do we do next, Timmy? Y'know, since you don't want to go back to the mansion or the Ivory Tower and you don't seem to want to be around your human friends for the time being and all?" Timmy frowned slightly and bowed his head in thought. His mind flitted through everything he had seen and learned and experienced in the past few weeks before finally settling on something he had mentioned before.

"The Crocker Cave." he murmured and looked up at the two fairies, "I want to investigate the cave. I wish we were at Dimmsdale Elementary!" The couple lifted their wands and granted it, poofing the three of them from the top of the building overlooking the bank to the lawn of the elementary school. Almost immediately, Timmy jumped with a cry of pain and darted aside to another part of the lawn. "Hey! Not so close to that spot!" he exclaimed in a startled voice, "Whatever is making all that negative energy there still hurts!" He rubbed his leg as Cosmo and Wanda looked over at the patch of grass in confusion, then turned back to watch him.

"Sorry, Sweetie. We didn't mean to put you so close to it." Wanda murmured, "The school is empty today, right?" The brunet nodded, testing his weight on his left leg before deciding it wasn't that badly stung. He lifted his arm with the Adventurer's Map and called up the scanner for anti-magic traps. None so far; had Crocker finally given up trying to reclaim the elementary school? He could only hope.

Making his way to the school doors, Timmy murmured a wish for them to be unlocked, then slipped through once they swung open for him. It was easy to find Crocker's room again, now that he could remember where it was without sitting through several minutes of trauma. What wasn't easy was deciding whether or not to actually go through with entering the cave. He flipped open the top of the Crocker bust on the desk and pressed the button hidden within it, watching grimly as the tile floor just before the desk slid aside to reveal the entrance to his former teacher's lair.

"I don't know about this, Sport." Wanda muttered, fluttering over to peer into the opened lair, "Crocker's lair might have a lot of traps still active! What if going in triggers something that could hurt us?" Timmy shook his head at that.

"I've already scanned the area, and there aren't any anti-magic traps anywhere." he replied and looked into the hole himself, "I just hope that there's a soft landing down there." He sighed. "'Cause if there isn't, I'm just gonna end up breaking a lot of bones. Oh well; not like it's gonna kill me now." he added under his breath and leaped into the cave. Cosmo and Wanda shot after him, immediately using their magic to catch him in mid-fall and float him gently to the floor of the lair. Timmy smiled up at them gratefully. "Thanks, guys! Have I mentioned how much I love having you with me?" he remarked with a laugh.

"You say it every time you cook us dinner." Wanda pointed out with a grin.

"And any time you get us cookies and chocolate!" Cosmo exclaimed, "Speaking of cookies, we should go get some when we're done!" Timmy touched down at last and looked around himself at the lair. The place was wall to wall computers, gadgetry, fairy 'evidence' and boxed plans for capturing fairies, namely Cosmo and Wanda. Not much had changed since the last time he'd been there. Though the lights had been shut off, the lair was illuminated by the soft glow of the swirling pink energy emitted by the Fairy Portal. The brunet waved a hand before himself, generating a Light orb to help light the room and setting it to hover over his head as he walked up to the portal.

"It's still working. I would have thought the machinery for it would have run out of power or something." Timmy mused aloud, examining it carefully and brushing away cobwebs, "Maybe it's using fairy magic as a power source. What do you guys think?" Wanda and Cosmo flew closer to it and studied the machine themselves.

"If it _is_ tapping into Fairy World's magic as a fuel supply, we can use it to recharge our wands from here on Earth." Wanda finally murmured and set her wand near the open portal, watching swirls of magic leech towards the golden star. She pulled it away and shook it. "Yup. Definitely running on magic." she confirmed as the star shone brighter. The brunet tilted his head, then leaned a little closer to the portal himself, closing his eyes as he inhaled the air surrounding it.

"The scent of fairy magic is definitely strong here. I'm surprised it didn't fill up the whole place and set off an alarm or something. Oh well, we'll just take the blueprints to it and build our own Fairy Portal back at the Ivory Tower." Timmy agreed at last, pulling back with a nod of his head, "When Danny gets better, I'll ask him if he can help us build it. He's got tons of experience with portals and junk." He headed for the assorted computers next and tapped at the keyboards. The huge monitor snapped to life, the screen lighting up with activity as Timmy jumped back in surprise. "It wasn't turned off? It was on standby this whole time?" he exclaimed in confusion and blinked at the open window on the monitor.

It was a blueprint for a giant butterfly net, yet another of Crocker's crazy schemes for capturing Cosmo and Wanda. The design was outrageous; the net was set up on a giant spring, meant to snap over the fairies like a massive bear trap. Timmy studied the blueprint with some interest. It was, after all, the last scheme Crocker ever came up with. The date in the corner of the window had it time-stamped as being just a few days before he died.

But something was strange. Timmy frowned slightly as some annoying feeling tugged at his mind, some sense of 'Look closer at it, you idiot!' nagging at him silently. He shook his head, then looked up at the blueprint again, searching it for some answer. Beside the fact that it had a giant net, there didn't seem to be anything _wrong_ with it. According to the drawing, it was supposed to be a spring-loaded trap, cleverly buried under the earth and positioned at the school so that it could be triggered...

His breath caught, eyes going wide in sudden, horrid realization. _'__No, not again...'_ He dimly heard Wanda's startled cry of his name as he dropped to his knees, then curled up on the floor, heart pounding in him in a slow rhythm, almost as though it was about to stop again. **That** was what Crocker had been planning; another trap to capture Cosmo and Wanda by using him as bait. Only, it failed horribly. The fairies hadn't been with him, so when the trap was triggered, his life was lost. Was **that** all he was to the mad teacher? Just a means to an end? A price to be paid for obtaining their power?

"Timmy! Timmy, snap out of it! Honey, what's wrong?" Wanda cried in growing panic as Cosmo stared up at the blueprint.

"It's not the same." he murmured, slowly descending to the floor beside the shuddering brunet, "Same place, but not the same trap. This isn't what killed Timmy." The fairy godfather looked blankly at his wife, catching her by surprise. "Not the same." He shook his head suddenly and gripped it in both hands, an expression of pain crossing his face.

"Cosmo! Timmy, listen to me! You _have_ to shake this off!" Wanda urged frantically, "You can't keep losing yourself to the past! If you let this happen over and over, you won't be able to move on! How can you expect the people of Dimmsdale to let go of you if you can't do it yourself?" Timmy lifted his face to blink at her, a distant look in his eyes. She cupped his face in her small hands, forcing him to focus on her. "Let go, Timmy. You can't hope to continue living if you keep hanging onto your death. That life is over." the fairy urged in a low, calming tone, "Get it through your head; it's over. Let go, Timmy, let it go. Please." The brunet blinked again, whimpered and curled up tighter, a sob escaping him.

"I didn't want it to be true. I just want to wake up and have this all just be a bad dream." he mumbled shakily. After a few moments, he stretched out and pushed himself up, rubbing away tears hastily. "Sorry... but I can't let go. Not yet. There's still a chance... somewhere... maybe... There _has_ to be a way to take it all back." Wanda looked up at him and sighed sadly, then fluttered towards her husband to tend to him. Cosmo rubbed his head with a wince, managing a smile for her sake. It, too, seemed rather timid and false, which didn't sit well with Wanda but since he wasn't volunteering any other information it was all she had to know how he was doing.

Timmy finally stood and shook himself off, taking a deep breath for mental cleansing before glaring up at the monitor. All right, so this was the last plan Crocker ever created for trapping Cosmo and Wanda; a giant net that was going to be buried under the jungle gym and snap into action once he fell and the fairies appeared to save him. He frowned thoughtfully. That was strange. The plan for using the butterfly net required the couple to save him; it was useless if they didn't show up, which was what happened. And the design for the net mechanism didn't look at all like the device that Tootie unearthed the previous day. So if the thing in the ground wasn't buried by Crocker to be used in getting rid of him, whose was it?

"Crocker didn't set this up." Timmy murmured softly, "He never planned to kill me; somebody set things up to make him think he killed me." His eyes widened again. "**That's** why he was so miserable at my funeral! He didn't _want_ me dead; he thought my death was all his fault!" he exclaimed, "He's just a victim too! Someone **else** planned my murder!" The two fairies looked up at him in shock as he jumped at the console, tapping furiously at the keys again. "This thing is connected to the Internet, right? Cosmo, Wanda! Call everyone together at the Ivory Tower! I'm going to send everything I can to the lab's computers and to the Archive!" Timmy ordered sharply, "Wherever Crocker is, he's watching the Spires and watching us! I've got to get a message to him about this! If I can let him know that he was set up, maybe we can convince him to shut down the rest of the Dark Spires on his own!"

"Then you won't have to destroy them and the secret will be safe!" Wanda cried joyfully, "Timmy! That's a great idea! Oh, Sweetie, I'm so proud of you!" The two fairies poofed themselves away in bursts of pink and green as Timmy grabbed for the phone in his pocket and dialed the number to the Archives. No time to waste; he was going to push for the armors to be done immediately. The next Spire was going down that very night!


	6. Chapter 6

6

A.J. looked up at the sound of the alarm going off in the Ivory Tower, startled out of his examination of the wreckage of the Aces High tank and the strange device uncovered from the school. Having the two set side by side in the Tower's larger lab had made him notice several odd things about them. But there was little time to pursue his investigation on them; something was up.

_"Members of Team Turner, please report to the conference room."_ the communication lines announced in a calm, collected tone, _"Be prepared for mission briefing and tactical preparations for tonight's assault of the fifth Dark Spire."_

"What? **Tonight?**" A.J. exclaimed in shock. That was way sooner that Timmy had originally called for! What made him change the schedule? Snatching up his laptop, he made a dash for the door, already trying to figure out what could have caused the change in plans along with trying to keep his findings in mind.

The rest of the team had yet to arrive when A.J. hurried in. He scanned the room briefly and lit up at seeing Cosmo and Wanda already there, floating above the table as they talked. They paused in their conversation once they noticed him run up to them.

"You two are already here so can I ask a favor?" A.J. blurted out in a rush, "Can you get Timmy here right away? I have to tell him about what I discovered!" The couple glanced at each other, puzzled.

"Uh, well, I'll give it a shot, but Timmy's not quite in the best of moods right now." Wanda replied slowly and lifted her wand, poofing away in a burst of pink smoke. Cosmo blinked and his lower lip quivered, eyes tearing up as he grew weepy.

"She left me all alone! Waaah!" he bawled, fists lifted up to his eyes as tears poured out in literal rivers. A.J. winced and sighed. Crazy fairy. He searched the drawers of the table for the bag of cookies Timmy usually had on hand and pulled one out for him.

"Here. Now will you stop crying?" he asked as Cosmo snatched the treat from his hand and began munching on it.

"Crying? Who's crying?" the fairy asked in return, looking baffled as another burst of pink erupted nearby, dissipating to reveal Wanda and Timmy in the room. A.J. breathed a sigh of relief and lifted an eyebrow as he watched the brunet pull a phone from his ear and clap it closed, returning his look with a puzzled expression.

"What was so important that I had to get poofed back here in the middle of a phone call to Caleb?" Timmy asked, mildly annoyed by the interruption. A.J. blinked, then shook his head, holding out a clipboard of notes.

"This. I've been doing research on both that tank that Remy left behind and the ring that we dug up at the elementary school and you're not gonna believe what I discovered." the African-American replied in a dark tone, "Both of them share the same maker; they came from the same company!" Timmy stared at him in alarm.

"You're saying that the same guy or whatever that gave Remy the tank to attack the Ivory Tower also built that thing that killed me as a kid?" he asked and A.J. nodded. "But who? Why? What'd I ever do to them?"

"Dunno. I haven't made any positive IDs on the logo and the language isn't anything the Internet can help us with." A.J. returned with a sigh, "I still have more tests to run, but I can already tell you it doesn't look good for us." The brunet gave him a puzzled look and A.J. tapped at the clipboard. "The design isn't anything like what's been recorded in human history. We're looking at something non-human... maybe even magical in nature." he explained and blinked as Timmy stared at the clipboard before groaning in dismay.

"This isn't fair!" he complained as the doors to the conference room opened and the remaining members of Team Turner came streaming in hurriedly. Tootie lifted an eyebrow at the comment and looked between the two boys.

"Something going on? A.J., why does Timmy look like he's gonna puke?" she asked.

"That's what I'd like to know." the boy genius muttered as the brunet shook his head and walked off to the head of the table, hands waving around in irritation.

"We'll deal with this later!" Timmy finally declared, whirling around and giving the team a grim look, "Right now, we have to get ready for the next attack! I've gone back to the elementary school to check out the Crocker Cave, and the evidence there points to a whole new mess of problems!" He pulled a folded up blueprint from his back pocket and flicked it out onto the table, watching it unfold as the other teens reached out to pull it open. "Crocker built a trap that was supposed to capture Cosmo and Wanda by putting me in danger again, but the trap that killed me wasn't the one he designed. Somehow, an entirely different trap was put in place of his and that's the one he triggered that day four years ago." the brunet went on seriously, "My murder goes far beyond him; somebody else is pulling the strings and both Crocker and Francis are the scapegoats in this. I have to warn Crocker about it."

"Why? Crocker's always been a jerk to us." Elmer remarked in confusion, tilting his head at the sight of the spring-loaded butterfly net in the blueprint, "Especially to you, considering you were the one with fairy godparents and he was always trying to prove they existed."

"Because I care about the lives of _everyone_ in Dimmsdale, not just you guys." Timmy told him seriously, "I may have been a selfish punk when I was alive, and I think it took the shock of me losing my life to get me to realize just how precious it is, but if I'm going to be a Hero and save people, then I should make the effort to save the lives of all of them, not just a few friends." The group looked up at him in surprise.

"That's not how the twerp I knew talked." Vicky finally murmured, a strange expression on her face, "What about taking revenge for what happened to you? Or making a wish to really make someone pay for being mean to you?" She rolled her eyes in thought and frowned. "Like what you must have done with me. I figured there were a lot of weird things in my life history that I couldn't figure out. Guess you were the one to blame for it all." she added.

"Yeah. Sorry." the brunet sighed, "And I don't want revenge. Maybe I did once, but that was a long time ago, before I chose to be a Hero." He shook his head and resumed his 'Heroic' face, "But that's the main reason why I ordered your suit and Chip's to be brought here immediately and why I want that tower taken down tonight." He glanced out the window at the city skyline, then back at the group. "I have to let Crocker know that he wasn't responsible for my death. Maybe I can convince him that he doesn't have a reason to keep these towers going for Remy and that he should shut them down." The brunet gave a weak smile and shrug. "For Timmy Turner's sake, if nothing else, right?"

"Good plan in theory, but aren't you forgetting something?" A.J. remarked flatly and pointed at the map on the monitor behind the immortal, "We cut the connection between that Spire and the rest of the network. There's no way of contacting Crocker using that Dark Spire!"

"And what if he just ignores you?" Chester added dryly, arms folded over his chest, "He's old and crazy; he's not gonna listen to anybody who lives here, what makes you think he'll pay attention to you?" He shook his head before the brunet could answer. "And don't try pulling that whole 'What if Timmy Turner says' crap on him. It might be okay with us 'cause we're your friends, but this guy _killed_ you!" the blonde added grimly, "If he finds out you're still around and kickin', he might try it again!"

"But Crocker **didn't** kill me! That's the point!" Timmy shot back, "I'll find a way to get a message to him using one of anti-magic units; I _have_ to get in touch with him!" The doors slid open once again and the team looked towards it in collective confusion. A tall boy dressed in red clothing walked in with a box in his hands, whistling cheerfully as white streamers trailed from the collar of his shirt. He stopped before Timmy and gestured with the box.

"Yo, Timmy! Where do you want me to put the stuff?" the newcomer asked brightly. Timmy stared blankly at him.

"And you are...?" he asked in response.

"Lloyd Irving Aurion, android duplicate number two oh nine, usually stationed in South Africa!" the boy replied with the same carefree tone, shouldering the box and pointing at it as Timmy lit up in recognition and nodded, "I brought those magitech suits you called R & D about today. The mana shield generators that were supposed to be attached to these and the other ones you've already got aren't done yet, so you're pretty much screwed when it comes to that." He grinned broadly, a faint air of ignorant bliss surrounding him. "And we also got that transmission about the Fairy Portal and the other stuff, so Klarth and the gang are already tearing into it. Man, you found some really cool stuff! I so wanna see Fairy World now!" he chattered and Timmy scowled, holding out his hands to the carton.

"Oh, shut up and gimme that! Geez, you really **are** a dummy! Caleb recreated you perfectly!" he exclaimed and took the box from the android, "Go get your dad and go back to wherever you came from! He freaks me out every time he makes an announcement!"

"Awesome! Knock 'em dead, Timmy! Then tell me all about it, 'cause I love a good story!" Lloyd chirped and ran off, cheering happily. The brunet sighed and looked over at the stunned team in irritation.

"Don't ask, okay?" he growled, "Just don't ask. Four years with that guy and I **still** haven't gotten used to all the robot copies Caleb's made of different Heroes. You should see the one he made for that Flash guy; he gets on my nerves every five seconds." He set the box on the table and shoved it towards Vicky and Chip, "Anyway, your suits are in there and made to fit your fighting styles. They're made of mythril, which is this special metal that's practically everything-humanity-throws-at-you-proof." Timmy explained and watched as the adults pulled the suits free and examined them, "They also have the Heart of Dimmsdale emblem etched onto them to keep them from getting wished away, so that makes you immune to all wishes except mine."

"Hey, whoa, whoa, wait up!" Chester exclaimed in shock, eyes going wide as he slammed his hands down on the table, "This is gonna be the first time we attack a **Dark Spire** without **any** help from Caleb and Danny Phantom! We can't do that!" He waved his arms around in a panic. "We don't have the strength to do it! All we have is you and Tootie and the fairies, and the nullifiers will wipe you out if they get close to you guys!" He shook his head. "And with Anti-Cosmo down and out, he can't help take out nullifiers either! We're stuck until they come back to help us!"

"We shouldn't be relying on them so much." Tootie pointed out darkly, "Danny Phantom isn't Dimmsdale's Hero; he belongs to Amity Park. And he's sick right now, so he can't even protect his own home territory. Sam and Tucker and Jazz and even Timmy's cousin, Danny Fenton, are doing that for him." The Goth tossed her pigtails aside, a frown on her face. "Caleb is the Guardian Angel of Heroes, so all he's supposed to do is make sure every place that has a Hero keeps them healthy and safe and happy. He makes sure those Heroes stay Heroes and gives them backup every now and then, but he isn't a Hero himself." she added, "So begging them for help at every little thing is just stupid! **We're** Dimmsdale's Heroes now! **We're** the ones who have to save the city!"

"Tootie-Fruitie has a point there." Trixie muttered begrudgingly, "We're the Dimmsdale kids, and this is our town! We're not gonna get pushed around on **our** turf!"

"Then it is agreed that Vicky and Chip Skylark shall be taking the places of Caleb and Danny Phantom!" Sanjay cheered happily, "How wonderful that Dimmsdale will have its beautiful Voice again!" The team gave him faintly exasperated looks, smiling only enough to humor the boy.

"Uh, right." Timmy chuckled, "They'll be official members of Team Turner when that Spire goes down. Since Vicky's gonna be attacking units with Chester and the Others, her suit is fine for now."

"What about me?" Chip asked, eyeing the boots and gauntlets that came with the suit.

"You're going to be in the front lines with Timmy, Tootie, and Trixie." Wanda told him seriously, "Since Caleb is refusing to leave New York until Danny Phantom is fully recovered, we're on our own with this next assault." She held a hand out to him, motioning to his teeth as the singer pulled his lips back in response. "You've received multiple blessings and gifts from the Tooth Fairy for taking such good care of your teeth and being an advocate for dental health, so part of her power was infused with them. That's why they're so valuable to her and here on Earth." the fairy went on, "You're a human with a fairy's power; that should be enough to have the anti-magic units lock onto you for targeting."

"Kinda like me, huh, Wanda?" Timmy asked with a laugh, "Humans with fairy powers! Kinda like a halfa!" Wanda and Cosmo glanced at each other, then laughed as well, faintly nervous giggles.

"Sure. Let's go with that." the godmother agreed with a smile and poofed up a pair of scissors, "Er, but since that's not really the case, Chip's gonna need strands of Cosmo's hair to get him to be a target. Just like you." She started snipping away as the brunet huffed and twined his hands behind his head.

"Try telling that to the other units back at the last Spire. They kept locking onto me even though I didn't have you or Cosmo or Anti-Cosmo or the magitech armor! Where the heck do I have Cosmo's DNA on me that I didn't think of checking for?" he grumbled irritably.

"Your clothes. Cosmo's hair gets everywhere." Wanda sighed in exasperation and waved her wand again, attaching the strands to Chip's uniform in a solid green band over the right shoulder, "He sheds a lot when he's in his cat disguise, you know that!"

"I do not!" Cosmo complained, waving his own wand to poof his hair back to normal, "I shed more when I'm a squirrel!"

"So we go with the same plan as last time? Shoot the control units and nullifiers down, then lure the rest of the units until the servers overload?" Elmer asked uncertainly, "Is that right?" Timmy nodded and the russet-haired boy looked faintly ill. "I'm going to have to be shooting things again, aren't I? You know I hate guns, Timmy, sir! What if I shoot you by accident? Chester'll kill me!" he complained halfheartedly.

"No, I wouldn't." Chester corrected dryly, giving him a glaring look, "I'd maul you, but I wouldn't kill ya. Timmy's immortal, so if you nick him once or twice, he can shrug it off and heal up on the run." A.J. grinned slyly and held up a hand in a stage-whisper to Elmer.

"But if you shoot Trixie by mistake, you're dead where you stand." he snickered and the blonde bristled, shooting the African-American a withering glare.

"Yeah, and you with him, A.J., seein' as how you're the one who built those laser blasters!" he growled, then blinked and stiffened with a faint blush as Trixie gave him a puzzled look. Tootie scowled faintly and shook her head with a sigh.

"Boys are so predictable." she muttered.

"We'll be fine." Timmy finally told the group quietly, "I have faith in all of you. You've lasted this long without me, so I'm positive that you'll do just fine if anything happens to me again." He managed another smile, forcing a cheerfulness that wasn't readily felt from him. "Well, I want all of you ready for the attack by sunset. The Spire should be taken down to free another section of the city, a message will be sent to Crocker somehow about his being framed, and I can start looking for the next member of our team in the area that gets freed." the brunet added and gave a small wave to the group as he headed for the door, "In the meantime, I'm gonna go check on Anti-Cosmo and Anti-Wanda. The other anti-fairies have been bringing in as much energy as they can for Anti-Cosmo, but I'm still kinda worried about him." Cosmo and Wanda blinked in surprise and fluttered after him.

"What? You're going to see them?" Wanda asked in alarm, "But... they're anti-fairies!"

"Really evil ones!" Cosmo agreed, eyes looking large and teary, "Anti-Cosmo always makes me feel like an idiot! He's so mean! Stay with us! You need to have **our** magic on your side, not some icky black magic!"

"They're not all bad. Well, technically they **are** all bad, but... you know what I mean!" Timmy replied, somewhat baffled by his own words. He bit his lip as a deeply thoughtful look came over his face, then scowled and shook his head in exasperation. "They're my friends just as much as you guys are! I care about them too!" he finally blurted and raced out of the room. The two fairies gasped as two more puffs of smoke exploded into sight.

"Did he just say...?" Andromeda exclaimed in horror as she floated near Tootie.

"...that anti-fairies are his _friends_?" Apollo finished in the same shocked tone, red eyes wide with alarm as his wings beat furiously to keep him hovering by Trixie.

"That's nuts! Heroes don't make friends with evil things!" Trixie cried and held her hands open in confusion, "That's just not how things are done in all those stories about Heroes and stuff!"

"Does this look like a storybook adventure we're living in?" Tootie growled irritably, lavender eyes flashing with anger behind the cat's-eye glasses, "Wake up! This is real life! Timmy's just following the best sense in any kind of battle! Keep your friends close and your enemies closer!"

"I'm never getting used to all these weird flying toys buzzing around whenever the twerp is in the room." Vicky remarked to Chip, eyes half-lidded in annoyance. The singer just grinned.

"Just another day of hanging out with the Heart of Dimmsdale!" he laughed and struck several poses excitedly, "Our first mission! Sweet!" Cosmo and Wanda only stared at the closed door, still dazed by the outburst.

"Timmy..." the pink-haired fairy murmured softly, a faintly worried expression flickering across her face.

* * *

"...And if you want to stay in my good graces, you had better not question me and my abilities when I call you to the battlefield!" Remy declared into the phone, "Yes, I said 'battlefield', you bumbling twits! If you are so intent on getting those sparkling dentures crammed in that brainless singer's head, then be ready at a moment's notice to arrive at any of my Dark Spires with what remains of your toothpaste monster horde!" It was something that had occurred to Remy just as he walked through the massive front doors of his mansion; if Chip Skylark was hanging out with that Neogene mongrel, then chances were very good that the former singer would be joining the efforts to tear down his Dark Spires. All in the name of Timmy Turner, that long-dead but not long-forgotten bastard. He listened to the pitiful burbling at the end of the line and rolled his eyes. "I don't care if you get squeamish at the thought of being in a battle, you **will** be there when I call for you or so help me, you'll experience the power I possess as the new Heart of Dimmsdale!" he snapped and scowled at the faintly disgruntled sound that eked out from the dentist, "Don't start with me." With that, he hung up and glared over at his fairy godfather.

"What? I'm not the one with the obsession over a deceased _muchachito_." Juandissimo remarked dryly, floating nearby with a mirror and hairbrush in his hands. Remy began to launch into another tirade when a burst of smoke and digital noise appearing out of the corner of his eye stopped him abruptly. The fairy straightened and thrust the items behind his back, scowling, as the blonde turned to see his visitors with a begrudging nod of acknowledgment.

"Good afternoon." the group intoned in unison, hovering before Remy as a unit.

"What's so good about it? I'm practically at a stalemate with that blasted Neogene mongrel!" Remy growled, "Four Spires down! One is obviously next! What are you to do to capture him before my plans are utterly decimated?" The group parted before him and held their hands out to a floating prism of crystalline metal.

"We made this capture unit out of the metal for use on Timothy. It will activate automatically when it gets close to him and siphon away his magical potential for storage. When the two are separated, he will be sedated enough for us to lay claim to him." the lead visitor explained the device as it floated forward and stopped within Remy's reach. He took it in his hands and studied it. It looked like a large diamond prism made entirely of metal that had been polished so finely, it was mirror-like. The size of half-gallon milk carton, the device didn't look all that spectacular when compared to the teen it was supposed to encase.

"Are you sure?" he asked before he could stop himself, wincing at how stupid it sounded.

"Quite. We spent time and money perfecting this. The research was fascinating." one of the females answered dryly, "I'll remember the fun I had for centuries to come."

"And when you have Timothy in your possession, my debt will be paid in full?" Remy pressed, staring at the group intently, "Free and clear, I can use the Spires to plunge the world into eternal darkness and misery for punishment?"

"Of course. That is what the contract stipulated." the lead visitor remarked with a smile and a sheet of parchment appeared between them. It was completely binding, unbreakable, and taunted Remy with his signature at the bottom. The blonde glowered at it; that detestable paper haunted him with all that it put him through. How he longed to tear it to pieces!

Juandissimo fluttered closer and peered at the parchment, gasping as Remy snatched it away from him and shoved it behind his back.

"Yes, yes! I know! Damned thing! The price for power and all that!" the boy millionaire snarled at the group, "I'll get that mongrel, of that I can assure you! Now get out! Before I activate every nullifier I possess!" The group began to float away, disappearing in puffs of smoke one by one. The last to vanish, the leader, held back for a moment, still smiling.

"Nullifiers don't work on us. We're the ones who originally designed that technology, before we sent the blueprints to your little puppet. Do you really think we would make something that we would not be immune to?" he murmured. Juandissimo narrowed his eyes at the lingering figure.

"Something only your kind is immune to... What, exactly, are you planning? It cannot be anything good for fairies, if you created the technology that cancels our magic." he questioned suspiciously.

"With Timothy in our possession, we will equal Fairy World's greatest weapon in destructive power. We are simply balancing the scales." the visitor replied, "As for the Spires... we are just granting a little boy's wish to make him happy. Isn't that what **you** are supposed to do? Grant the wish to make him happy? As long as Timothy exists, as long as Timmy Turner's memory lives on, your godchild will never be happy. And you will fail as a godparent yet again." With that, he vanished in a burst of smoke, the faint ping of his exit echoing in the silent room.

The fairy godfather ground his teeth together in controlled fury. Something was going on. Something very wrong and _muy mal_ for Fairy World, and his godchild had somehow gotten involved in it very deeply and very quickly. What was it? He glanced over at the blonde as Remy shoved the parchment into a drawer and locked it, pressing a button next to the lock. Juandissimo flinched as he felt the barest edges of a nullification field bloom around the desk containing the contract. His gut told him that the answers to it all lay in that paper, but there was no way he could get to it like that. What could he possibly do to gain access to that contract?

"Blasted creatures." Remy growled and spun around in a huff, coattails fluttering in his wake as he strode purposefully out of the room, "Juandissimo! Come! I have to be sure Spire Three is still undergoing repairs to the network and is fully secured against future attacks! I'll triple the security! That mongrel won't even be able to get close enough to spit on the lot without me knowing about it!" He held up the trap and eyed it with a malicious grin. "And with this on my side, I'll have exterminated the second pest to stand between me and all I dreamed of! After all, they wanted Timothy to pay the debt; they never said anything about his magic being part of the deal!"

* * *

Master Control Spire~

Crocker looked up at the screen of his vast console, tools in hand as he continued work on the chamber that would soon be the place of Timmy's rebirth. The computer had beeped; without the aid of the servers in Spire Three, the continued calculating of the perfect nullification field was even slower in going than before, but it still progressed. They had worked out another set of formulae and the strength of the field jumped from 91% to 92%. The efficiency was climbing, and soon the world would fall into perpetual sorrow, joining Dimmsdale in their fate as the city spiralled onwards to destruction without its Heart.

He couldn't let that happen. Not if seeing Dimmsdale die, the world die, could possibly cause Timmy pain in whichever plane of bliss he was supposed to be in. Crocker frowned, welded the last of the boards in place and stood back from his creation, fingertips tapping together out of habit. A smile grew on his face.

It was complete. After so long and so much effort, his greatest masterpiece, his final masterpiece, was finally complete. Once the software to run the device was written, which shouldn't take that long, then all he would have to do was get the boy to step into the chamber, along with the mysterious fairy from his fragmented memories, and Dimmsdale's Heart would beat again.

He turned away from the machine and walked towards his desk, picking up the framed photo of the Turner boy, then made his way towards a second device. This one had been easier to make, smaller, with less of the aionis than the chamber. The second device had only one priority; to track down the new Timmy via his DNA, capture him, and bring him back to the Master Control Spire for Turner's resurrection. In the process, the mystery fairy should appear. After all, they were forever bound together.

"See, Turner? See what lengths I will go to for you? You meant everything to me alive and you still mean everything as you look down on us from Paradise." Crocker murmured to the photo, the shining blue eyes of the brunet staring back at him lifelessly. He tilted his head as if listening to the image. "What is that you say? If you meant so much, why did I kill you?" he asked and lowered his eyebrows, eyes glazing in distant memory, "I never meant for you to die, Turner. I only wanted to capture your fairies, the source of all your magic and possessions. I knew you'd fall from that jungle gym; you were so uncoordinated whenever you had that Tang girl's eyes on you. If you fell, you'd be in danger, and your fairies would never allow harm to come to you. My trap would capture them once they appeared to save you and I would have my proof."

He sighed morosely and hugged the photo, eyes shutting tight against the tears that always came.

"But it all went horribly wrong! The trap failed, and you fell to your death. Every night, I curse myself for dooming you, and thus dooming us all, to such a fate." the teacher wept, "All of the misery, the suffering, the despair and sorrow; all of it because I was stupid enough to not see you for who you really were, who you really are!" He brought the photo forward, pleading eyes turned on the frozen moment of Timmy's laughter. "But all of that will vanish when I bring you back." Crocker promised and laughed maniacally, "I will sacrifice your namesake and his fairy ally to bring you back with all of that power transferred to you! And you will use that power to punish that spoiled brat that never cared for you and bring Dimmsdale into a golden era! You'll see! This city will have its Heart restored and we'll become the most prosperous city in the world! And you will always be here, to make us happy.

"Forever."

* * *

A/N: Just lots more hints here. Oh, look. Crocker's really lost it, huh?


	7. Chapter 7

7

Dark Spire Three~

Sunset.

Once upon a time, Timmy liked sunsets. He would sit on the roof of the Archive building in New York with Cosmo and Wanda and watch the sun set over the city. The skyline looked so beautiful from so high. And it was obviously enjoyed by various other Heroes as well. Cousin Danny would show up from time to time, often with Sam and often in ghost form, and mostly cuddled with his girlfriend until the stars populated the skies and they would teleport away looking eager for something else to do. Rest of the time, he would sit with Timmy and just talk about random topics until they ran out of words and the sunset commanded their full attention and complete silence. Once, Timmy had gone up to watch the end of day ritual and ran across a Heroine that registered familiarity in his mind.

"Wonder Gal?" he had blurted out, recalling the super-hero persona Trixie had taken on during one of his numerous wishes for a fantastic lifestyle. She had turned and given him a faintly withering glare.

_"Woman."_ she corrected, "I should have your parents teach you proper manners in the presence of one."

"I don't have... I mean, I can't go to my parents." Timmy had mumbled, stung, "I died in my hometown and I have to stay here." The woman had softened then and knelt before him, a comforting expression replacing the affronted one.

"Ah, you must be the young Hero Apprentice Caleb had spoken of. My apologies, little one; the pain has not yet eased from your young spirit." she told him and rubbed his head affectionately.

"So you must be Wonder Woman, right? I'm Timmy Turner and these are my fairy godparents, Cosmo and Wanda." the boy introduced the three of them, "Sorry about that whole 'Gal' thing. Dimmsdale has a comic book super-hero called Wonder Gal, and she looks kinda like you."

"A pleasure to make your acquaintances. Come. Sunset will soon begin." Wonder Woman had invited them and they sat in companionable silence as the golden light played out over New York City, gilding the buildings and making them all look like palaces.

But that was in the past, in days of bittersweet bliss among such grandiose figures as Green Lantern (who kept doodling things in the air with his ring out of boredom so much that Timmy honestly thought that the ring was really an artsy fairy godparent in disguise), and even Superman himself would drop by with a present or two for Timmy, just to cheer him up. He knew their identities, part of his induction into the world of a Hero, and he would wave to them on the streets if he saw them, though he never actually called out to them. Always careful. Don't reveal them and don't reveal yourself.

_'Well, that advice has gone bust in Dimmsdale,'_ Timmy thought to himself as he looked over his team of friends and unlikely allies. Only a few months into his quest to save Dimmsdale and nearly all of his childhood friends and enemies discovered that Timothy Neogene was really Timmy Turner. Tootie, Chester, A.J., Elmer, Sanjay, Trixie, all of them eager to join him when they learned the truth, ready to fight alongside him for the sake of defending the magic of the world, among other personal reasons involving him. Vicky joined him as well, which was still kind of a shock to him, but he figured it was mostly to get revenge on whoever it was that killed him when she still depended on his parents for spending cash than anything else. Still, he had his doubts there, as she kept calling out warnings about their 'toys' whenever she spotted a fairy fluttering around out of disguise. And Chip Skylark, long thought dead as well, joined him when Timmy flat out explained who he was and what had been going on. The singer wanted vengeance as well for him, and considering he would never get peace from Bender and Wendell until Remy was stopped, he had his own personal reasons for fighting as well.

"So, you guys ready?" he asked them and jerked a thumb at the setting sun, "Once the last of the light fades, we're going in. There's still time for you to back out."

"We just finished casting _Revive_ on everyone. We're not going anywhere." Tootie told him with a grin, lavender eyes glittering behind the tinted lenses of her glasses.

"C'mon, little dude. After all we've both been through? I need to do this as much as you do. I can't even look at toothpaste without wondering if its gonna come to life and attack me." Chip returned offhandedly, his tone light but still simmering with a bitterness that hinted at his underlying fury over all that had happened in the past four years.

"Twerp, if you try wishing me home, I'm gonna come back and kick your ass." Vicky growled at the brunet, shaking her fist at him, "I was promised all the expensive crap I can trash and I'm holding you to it! And I wanna piece of the little bastard that murdered you, so I'm hanging around you just long enough to find out who did it so I can tear him limb from limb!" Timmy grinned.

"Yeah, 'cause hanging out with me because you care about me isn't your thing." he remarked and the carrot-top snorted derisively as she fingered the Attack Symbol that hung around her neck, the tiny metal sword glowing faintly as it worked its magic to power up her attacks.

"Damn straight!" she agreed, which, translated, meant that she _did_ care about him, but wasn't going to admit it in front of so many witnesses, especially one that was her own little sister.

"Team Turner's all ready to go, but I still think Trixie should stay on the shooting lines if you're gonna take Chip to the front." Chester added in worriedly, "I mean, I trust your magic and all, pal, but without Caleb and Danny Phantom backing us up we could end up with the same disaster as the last Spire! You passed out trying to heal Trixie and nearly ran out of magic!"

"We'll be fine, don't worry." the brunet assured him, "Just follow the plan." They stood in the alley until the last of the golden light vanished behind the skyline of Dimmsdale. Timmy looked towards it wistfully, momentarily yearning for the simple pleasure of annoying the heck out of Wolverine by crawling into his lap to watch the whole sunset because he knew it would provide gossip fodder for the rest of the X-Men and everyone agreed Wolverine was generally in need of a reminder that he was still human, if in the broadest sense of the word. "Here goes." the brunet murmured and darted out of the alley with the team close behind, his deep blue stealth pack with Hanuman's Rod secured between it and him fitted snugly against his back.

The training was definitely paying off. Timmy only heard a few light taps against the concrete and asphalt as the group scampered after him, blending into the shadows with their black magitech armor. All that really gave away their positions was the faintly shimmering silver of the trim and magitech threads, and the blood-red color of the Heart of Dimmsdale Insignia. He turned back to his path, picking out a route that would cover them in darkness. Strange, why were there so many people milling around here?

Security guards, dozens of them, all stood at attention at different points around the Spire's lot, some of them were even on patrol, walking the grounds with flashlights and nightsticks ready. There was no way he could lead the team into battle with all of them in the way! Too many people could get hurt in the attack!

"Cosmo! Wanda!" he called out softly and the fairies poofed out of disguises to float by him. Timmy glanced back at the group and nodded towards the fairies. Trixie and Tootie caught on and nodded.

"Apollo!" the former Popular whispered and a burst of red appeared as her fairy godfather popped into view.

"Romi!" Tootie added and Andromeda spun into the air in a puff of deep blue smoke.

"Get rid of the guards." Timmy ordered softly and turned to his godparents. In one voice, the three godchildren called out their wishes.

_"I wish the security guards were someplace else!"_

And nothing happened.

"What the crap?" Vicky muttered, arms akimbo as she looked around, "The bozos in suits are still here. Are your toys broken?" Timmy looked puzzled as the fairies shook their limp wands back to obedience and shrugged in united confusion. Team Turner collectively peered out of the shadows and studied the security detail.

"Darn it! Anti-magic suits!" Timmy growled and slammed his fist against the asphalt in frustration, "And the field has gotten stronger! Nullification in this area is already trying to play havoc with me!"

"Same with us." Apollo mumbled, one hand pressed to his temple in pain, "We can't stay here too long."

"Change your magic." Wanda remarked, her eyes closed in concentration. Both she and Cosmo floated before the two younger fairies, only momentarily affected by the nullification field before their color returned to a healthy tone. "It's something Cosmo and I discovered by accident early in our days of trap-hunting. We keep changing magic and we last much longer in the anti-magic zones." She opened her eyes and looked a little puzzled, "Do you understand?" Andromeda and Apollo looked at each other, then at her, then shook their heads.

Timmy watched his godmother fumble for a way of explaining whatever it was they did to survive in the zones. He blinked and puzzled it over himself. How exactly did he himself stay decent in the same areas? There was the mana shield, but he often forgot to bring it up before going in and it took too much concentration to sustain it while he did his thing. There was converting to negative magic, but he didn't want to do that. That was like accepting darkness and that was the **last** thing he wanted to do. So what did he do? Change magic, like Wanda said? But he never really thought of just _changing_ magic; it was too much a part of him to pin down and focus on. The switch just sort of happened, he guessed, easily and naturally. Kinda like...

"Breathing." Timmy suddenly said and everyone looked at him in confusion, oblivious to his thoughts and only hearing him just blurt that out for no reason. "It's like breathing. Using magic for us is natural, so we can't just over analyze it. It doesn't work. If you breathe one way, you use air one way. But if you change how you breathe, you still use the same air, but it flows through you in a different rhythm." he explained to the fairies, "Nullifiers are kinda like little factories putting out junk that pollutes the air, so we get sick if we breathe it all in like that. When you start feeling the effects of the field, change the way you breathe so you don't suck in so much bad air with the good air. You'll still get sick eventually, but it'll take longer for that to happen than if you just breathe the same way all the time." Romi and Apollo both lit up in understanding.

"Of course! Rhythm!" Apollo exclaimed, slapping his hand against his forehead, "Why didn't **I** think of that?" He and the raven-haired fairy beside him both closed their eyes and took deep breaths, exhaling slowly as they floated falteringly in the air. After a moment, both began looking better and their wings beat faster than before, bringing them to a stronger, more confident hover as a faint ripple of pink magical energy flowed over them. The two fairies opened their eyes and smiled at the brunet.

"It worked!" Romi exclaimed happily and bowed to Timmy, "Thank you very much for helping us!"

"For a human, you've got a pretty good understanding of fairies and fairy magic. Almost like an instinct to it." Apollo remarked in an impressed tone, "Thanks for the head's up." Wanda and Cosmo both looked up at their godchild in surprise and Timmy only blinked at them.

"What? That's how it is, isn't it?" he asked in confusion, looking even more baffled as Wanda plastered on a weak smile.

"Yes, you're right. It's exactly like you said." she replied softly.

"Well, we fixed the fairies and Timmy, too. But, that still leaves us with the guards to deal with." A.J. commented dryly, arms folded over his chest, "And I don't think we can make _them_ go away just by breathing funny on them." He looked up in surprise as the brunet got up from his crouched position and held out a hand.

"If we can't use magic and wishes to get rid of them, then black magic will have to do the trick!" he declared and conjured up a small mirror before his hand, "Anti-Wanda! I need your help!" With that, he swept his hand aside, mentally using the mana in the mirror to shatter it into pieces that dropped out of existence. A burst of pale blue smoke appeared before him and the anti-fairy appeared, fluttering before him with her eternally dopey smile.

"Howdy, Sugarsnack! What'cha need? Got some hankering fer a bad luck party and invitin' the gang ta join in?" she greeted and laughed happily as the fairies collectively cringed away from her. Timmy motioned to the security guards walking the lot.

"Yeah, them. Anti-Wanda, can you get some of the anti-fairies to give those guys some bad luck and scare them out of here? I can't attack the Spire if they're here; they'll get hurt!" he explained in exasperation. Anti-Wanda looked over her shoulder at the guards and the smile grew wider.

"Shore thing, Sugarsnack!" she declared and flew high into the air. There was the sound of a shrill whistle and dozens of anti-fairies poofed into view above them. At first, they just gathered there in a cloud, then they all shot down towards the security guards, descending upon them in a storm of bat's wings and black star wands. Pandemonium broke out as guards scattered in screams, the sounds of glass breaking, cats yowling and evil laughter filling the air. Team Turner huddled together, warily watching the chaos in hopes that they would be overlooked for the reason of being Timmy's allies. Wanda glanced aside at her husband, but Cosmo only returned it with a neutral expression, neither stupid-looking nor angry, just some strangely impassive look that felt cold and distant. Not at all like the Cosmo she loved and married. She turned to look at her godchild and Timmy was now just standing there, grinning at the havoc playing out before him. She flinched as his magical signature briefly tuned itself to the dark side, black magic tainting him.

Not good. He insisted he was purely light, but the fact that he was enjoying unleashing anti-fairies on an unsuspecting group of guards proved otherwise to her. He was human, she had to remember that, and being human meant he had darkness in his heart. Timmy just refused to acknowledge it even as he used it.

"Dude, I don't know whether to say 'Cool' or not about all this." Chester remarked slowly, giving the brunet a suspicious look.

"Those people are going to need a lot of therapy later." Sanjay agreed, wincing as Anti-Wanda drained the negative energy from one guard before sending him scurrying away in terror.

"The Timmy Turner I remember was nicer to people." Elmer mumbled, fingers pressing together humbly.

"The Timmy Turner you remember is dead." Timmy mocked and laughed at the quickly vanishing guards, "Way to go, antis!" The anti-fairies flocked back towards him, work done, as he looked back at Elmer with a faintly evil grin. "If you don't like me as I am now, go home. I'll erase your memories and you can sit in your bed and fondle my hat all you like." he added. Elmer flinched and Chester immediately stepped between them, scowling.

"Either you say you're sorry about that, or I'm knocking those buck teeth of yours onto the asphalt." the blonde threatened.

"Try it and every anti-fairy here will haunt you for life." Anti-Cupid snarled at him, a broken heart arrow nocked in his black bow and aimed directly at Chester, "And I'll personally ensure you never know love!" The brunet held up a hand and Anti-Cupid obediently set the weapon down, relaxing the bowstring.

"I've got this covered. Anti-fairies, head back to the Ivory Tower and pass on the energy you've collected! You did well tonight." Timmy commanded and the flock of antis burst out of view in a multitude of smoke puffs. Once they were gone, he winced and rubbed his head, looking sheepish. "Okay, so maybe that **was** a bit over the top, but you guys keep bringing up things about how I used to be and all. It's really annoying." he told the group and looked towards Elmer, "Sorry about that. Really. I'm not gonna do anything to you, but for the sake of not getting on my nerves, could all of you just lay off on the whole 'the Timmy Turner of the past' thing?"

The team glanced at each other in silent deliberation before finally nodding slowly. They didn't like it that much, their memories of Timmy's childhood had been all that had kept them going for so long, but if clinging to that memory was hurting the Timmy that existed now...

"I don't see why that should matter..." Trixie began in a puzzled tone but Chester cut her off with a quick motion of his hand.

"Fine, whatever. We'll do it your way, man. You're the Heart of Dimmsdale, after all." the blonde interrupted curtly. Timmy lifted an eyebrow questioningly at him.

"Thanks. I think." he murmured.

Wanda breathed a soft sigh of relief as the aura she could sense around Timmy faded back to light, the faintest wisps of darkness hovering around its edges. She didn't like him hanging around antis for that very reason. The more he exposed himself to them, the easier it was for him to be influenced by their magic. If she wasn't careful, if she wasn't vigilant, he would truly become Anti-Wanda's _sunu_ and there was no telling what Anti-Cosmo -if he ever awoke- would do with him then.

A brief blur of green and white zipped past her to him and suddenly there was Cosmo, rapping Timmy on the head repeatedly with the star of his wand to get his attention.

"Hello? Hellooooo?" the fairy godfather called down at him sternly, "We haven't got all night! Are we gonna do this or not? I'm missing valuable Not-Study game time for this!" Timmy yelped in pain and rubbed his head, glaring up at Cosmo as the fairy just grinned back at him.

"This doesn't give me good feelings about tonight." Tootie muttered, looking up at the nearby Spire, "Security guards? Are the traps even here if there were guards stationed here?" The group began passing her by, closing in on their target and she sighed in exasperation, shaking her head. "And once again, no one listens to the Goth." she grumbled. Romi pat her shoulder comfortingly.

"I'm sure things will be all right. We might not be able to grant wishes until the nullifiers around the base of the Spire are gone, but we should be fine as long as we keep changing rhythms." the fairy remarked cheerfully, "Now, let's help Timothy bring down this dreadful tower so we can go home and do something safer... like your homework."

* * *

Not two minutes before the outbreak of anti-fairies at Spire Three, Remy was on the phone with the head of security at the tower, checking up on condition of the building.

_"Everything's running smoothly, Young Master Buxaplenty."_ the guard returned briskly, _"There's been no sign of the hoodlums you described."_

"Yes, but I'm after a very specific ruffian. If you see him, try to detain him and contact me immediately!" Remy ordered sharply, "He goes by the name of Timothy Neogene, with brown hair, blue eyes, and a rankling tendency to destroy things with his bare hands."

_"Bare hands?"_

"Never mind. Just watch out for that one. Remember, brown hair and blue eyes." the boy millionaire pointed out flatly.

_"Sounds a bit like the Heart."_

"I quite assure you, Mr. Ortecha, that this mongrel is no endearing little Heart!" Remy growled out in a slow, dangerous tone through his teeth, "Your precious Timmy Turner is **dead **and I am slated to replace him as the Heart of Dimmsdale. I pay you to stand watch over the keys to my rise in power, not think about idle fantasies!"

_"Yes, sir, Young Master Buxaplenty, sir. I'll... what? What the hell? What the hell is that?"_ the phone was suddenly filled with the faint sounds of panicked screams as the head of security began ranting hysterically. Remy pulled the phone away from himself and stared at it with an utterly baffled look. What was going on over there? _"Oh God! They're everywhere! Bat things!"_

There was the sound of something breaking, then maniacal laughter, and then the tone of a line gone dead as communications with the security force was cut off. Remy glanced over at Juandissimo, still pondering over the sounds. The fairy was watching him strangely, almost suspiciously, his hand in mid-stroke of brushing out his raven-black hair.

_"Que paso?"_ he questioned and it took Remy a moment to understand the Spanish terms.

"I don't quite have the foggiest notion of what has happened." he returned slowly. His eyes began closing up as understanding of some kind began to come together in his mind.

The security guards had been attacked. By something with bat wings. Anti-fairies. Why would anti-fairies attack the Dark Spire?

Because Timothy was there, and Anti-Cosmo had once threatened to give Remy bad luck by helping his rival somehow so this must be what he had meant. But the anti-fairy leader was out of commission, the anti-fairies said so themselves.

And they also said they had a second-in-command giving them orders. Another boss. And chances were that this second boss called the shot that scattered the security detail, giving Timothy full access to the Dark Spire.

A clear path to destroying it.

_"Undead bastard!"_ Remy shrieked in a fury, slamming the receiver onto the floor with enough force to shatter it and sending Juandissimo shooting towards the ceiling in alarm, "He's attacking the Dark Spire already! Good Lord, can't that mongrel even give me the decency to prepare for an attack?"

"All is fair in love and war, _mi amigo_, and since neither you nor Timothy have any love for one another..." Juandissimo put in dazedly, hands pushing against the ceiling as he pulled his head out of the hole he just created, eyes rolling about dizzily.

"Well, if it's war Neogene wants, then it's war he'll get!" Remy raged, shaking his fist at the air, "Juandissimo! I wish Veronica, Francis, Bender, Wendell, the remaining toothpaste minions and I were all at the closest point to Dark Spire Three without falling in the nullification field! And I wish that everyone but Francis had copies of the Aces High armor!"

"Francis doesn't get armor?" the fairy questioned in confusion. Remy nodded grimly.

"He's getting too close to discovering the truth. If Fate has not yet completely deserted me, his lack of protection may condemn him to following Turner. Then there will be only one loose end to tie up and no one will ever know." he growled darkly, "No evidence, no witnesses... his death will forever be nothing more than an accident."

Juandissimo gave him another suspicious look, but waved his wand anyway, sending all the players Remy requested to the site of the latest attack.

* * *

A blast of smoke later, Bender and Wendell were standing on the street in confusion, clad in white armor bearing the ace of spades on their chests, their last few toothpaste monsters gathered behind them and awaiting instructions. This was new to them, but with the minions milling about and knowing they had somehow been created and given to them by Remy, they really shouldn't have been all that surprised. The father and son glanced at each other and shrugged, then looked to the other 'members' of their group.

Veronica giggled deliriously nearby, clutching a pair of pom-poms in her hands as she stood in the same armored outfit as the dentist pair. Hair pulled back in the usual blonde ponytail, she looked like a combat cheerleader. She ruffled the pom-poms, making them tinkle like bells as her smile grew.

"Mine, mine, mine...!" she sang softly to the melody of the pom-poms, "When Trixie's gone, I'll be the new Trixie, and Timmy Turner will be mine forever!"

Francis appeared by them, dressed only in his normal clothing, a tattered white lab coat wrapping him and looking as if it had never seen the interior of a washing machine. He took in his surroundings, then snorted in disinterest.

"Another hallucination. Fascinating." he muttered dully.

Remy appeared at the forefront, clad in the Aces High armor that the dentists and cheerleader were dressed in. Juandissimo floated by him, studying himself in the mirror. Despite all that was going on around and within him, his intentions remained locked on one sure thing; Cosmo lived and still had Wanda by his side, and Juandissimo was going to do his damnedest to change all that. If it meant having to go one on one again with the idiot fairy and that weird scythe-thing, then so be it. He would be the nobler man and fight bravely with his own skills for the hand of fair Wanda, who truly didn't deserve her fate.

And he meant that.

"Over there! Move out to the Spire and defend it! Go after the ones I told you to cancel out!" Remy ordered the group, "Bender, Wendell, Chip Skylark will most definitely be there, so do something about him! Do whatever you like, just keep him out of battle! Francis, you are to attack that McBadbat loser at once when you see him! Don't fail me!" He clenched a hand into a fist with a fierce grin, "Just leave Timothy Neogene to me! I have a personal score to settle with that mongrel!" He threw hand out to the tower in the distance and yelled again. "Go!"

And the group raced after him towards the Dark Spire.

* * *

Dark Spire Three~

"Is everyone in position?" Timmy called out over the Fenton Phones, glaring up at the obelisk that sat disconnected from its brethren.

_"Yup! We're ready when you magic-users are! Good luck, Trixie, and take it easy, 'kay?" _Chester replied.

_"Oh, get a room already!" _Tootie declared in exasperation.

_"Mind your own business, you Goth freak!" _Trixie snapped back, _"I could say the same about you and Timmy, but you know he likes me and would never give you the time of day!"_

_"Like I really care that much what he thinks of me!"_

"Will you two stop fighting over me?" Timmy yelled in irritation, "Where the heck was all this when I was trying to get _somebody's_ attention as a kid?" Silence, then...

_"You still can't have him..." _Trixie muttered.

_"Focus! We have to hurry and finish this!" _Cosmo suddenly snapped down, then in a lighter tone, added, _"I wanna go eat pizza! Yay! Pizza!"_

_"Here goes!"_ Tootie cried and, on her end, a circle of light shone at her feet as she held her dagger out to the hatch doors, the Laser Blade in her other hand and waiting to strike. "There's still enough mana to use spells, Timmy! Go for it!" she declared, _"Strike with heaven's wrath! Thunder Arrow!"_ A flurry of powerful lightning strikes hurled down onto the hatches, blowing them open and thoroughly destroying a large group of devices racing out to meet her head-on.

"My turn!" Chip cheered and smiled hugely at his own set of hatch doors, the shining blue-white light of his 'Teeth Fu' laser blasting them open. Dozens of anti-magic traps scuttled out, closing in on him with jaws snapping, dishes swiveling about and nets flailing in the wake of their speeds. With a laugh, the singer waved to them, then darted aside, running for the closest of the snipers waiting to pick off the nullifiers and control units.

"I wish the doors would open!" Trixie announced and Apollo shook his head as he floated by her.

"Too much interference. I can't grant wishes until the nullifiers are dead." he told her, "Just get us close to the hatch doors, Trixie! They should pick up the hair on your armor and start chasing you! I'll cover you with the scimitar!" The Asian nodded in agreement and scampered for the hatch doors, pounding on each one with her fists.

"Fairy! Fairy! I've got a fairy!" she screamed at them and the metal panels slid open in a flash, the beaming red eyes of hundreds of traps all locked on her and Apollo. The fairy godfather waved his arms in a panic.

"Not like that, Trixie! Run!" he cried and the two raced away, searching for a member of Team Turner to weed out the group.

Clouds of silver filled the air as literally thousands of automated traps and nullifiers took to the land and sky, red eyes beaming as they sought out the sources of the attack. Battalions of destroyers, Smasher-class units, loped along the concrete on short legs, powerful jaws clanking together in predatory anticipation of sinking metallic teeth into the teens racing around the building. Scattered among them were the Four-Eyes units, ground nullifiers that tromped along with their radio dishes swiveling about wildly as they sent out the signals that jammed fairy magic and helped to extend the range of the mega-nullifier on the top floors of the Dark Spire. Flanking them were the Flip-Top fairy trap units, butterfly nets built into the main body of the devices set on springs. When they got close to a weakened fairy, the unit would pop open the net and clap it over the fairy, much like a piranha plant.

These were the units that threatened the land-bound members of Team Turner most. The fairies had to worry about the aerial units, destroyers like the Mayhem-class with their assorted blades and maces, the Satellite-class nullifiers that bobbed about erratically and clung closely to the Sweeper-class fairy traps whose nets were always open and hungry for any fairy they could corner.

And flying about in the chaos were the new Squadron Control Units, hovering spheres whose sole purpose was to govern the actions of the other units and prevent the overload of information and data that would quickly short out the server system within the Dark Spire. It was these units that had to be destroyed above all others, for if even one of them remained active, Team Turner would never be able to destroy the tower that ruled one of the remaining regions of the magic-deprived Dimmsdale.

_"According to the detector, we've got about three hundred controllers out there and about six hundred nullifiers. Man! That's gonna take all night to blow away!"_ Chester complained over the sounds of laser-fire and crashing units, _"Well, at first count, considering we're shooting 'em down right now but still! Man!"_ The blonde held the device in one hand, his other holding up the laser blaster and firing rapidly at any of the floating nullifiers that were lured into his range by the dashing decoys. He glanced between the screen of the detector and the cross-hairs of the gun often, both to keep track of the numbers as well as to identify the proper targets. Chip raced by in laughter, sparing just enough time and distance to pull off a few dance moves as the ground and air units chased after him.

_"This is way cool fun, little dude! Although, I'm still pretty sure these earrings won't go over well with the public." _the singer remarked brightly.

_"Chip, for the last time, they're not earrings!"_ Timmy sighed in exasperation, _"They're communicators! Danny Phantom lent them to me!"_

_"So he's into New Age stuff? I don't work with anyone who walks that way..."_

_"Not one more word out of you about him or, so help me, there won't be enough pillows in this city to cover what remains of your teeth when I get done with them."_ the brunet snarled out, _"Focus! We don't want to get taken out when we're so close to winning!"_

"I'd listen to him when he's in this state of mind." A.J. remarked bluntly as he peered through the sight scope of his own laser rifle, sniping down nullifiers as they passed into his region, "We can handle Timmy just fine when he's not in battle. Combat Timmy gets really testy, really fast."

Sanjay, being the best marksman of the group, was relegated to shooting down units that chased the fairies. Each of the godparents would dive down close to him with several dozen traps and nullifiers on their trail, and the Hindu teen would quickly pick out a number of targets as they rushed by. Vicky stuck close to him as a bodyguard, darting out to destroy anything that got too near Sanjay for comfort. Her wide smile as she sank her twin swords into the units was exactly the same evil grin she so often displayed when tormenting Timmy and his friends; now it was a sign of her delight in helping them by doing what she did best, destroying other people's property.

"What a blast! And I get to do this to all the other towers, right?" she called out and laughed evilly, "I **love **this gig! You should've brought me into this sooner, twerp! I would've brought the heavy artillery from my personal collection!"

A good start to the assault but, as they had been expecting, the advantage of confusion and systematic destruction didn't last very long. Very soon, Elmer was yelling out into the Phones about the new trouble.

He'd been sniping off controllers and nullifiers as they passed into his section of the battlefield. Suddenly, one of the control units turned to face its blinking red eye at him. Elmer lifted the blaster to shoot it down and was stunned to find that a small group of aerial nullifiers immediately shielded the unit from his view. The russet-haired boy set the gun down, startled. That was **definitely** new; was this what they were looking for in the way of new defenses the Spires would learn from their attack strategies? His hand flew up to the Fenton Phones.

"Timmy, sir! Chester, sir! The control units! They're acting weird!" he blurted out in shock, "This one got shielded by nullifiers! It's like it told them to protect it or something!"

_"And now the new craziness starts. Okay, let me try and figure out what to do about this!" _Timmy called back.

_"Keep shooting at them, Elmer! Even if you don't hit 'em, it might help Timmy find a weakness or somethin'! You know that's his specialty!" _Chester ordered.

Elmer sighed heavily but lifted the laser blaster again. This was going to be one of **those** battles.

* * *

The message was relayed across the Fenton Phones to all members of Team Turner; the control units were manipulating other units into becoming shields. A.J. dropped to one knee, one hand raised with a laser blaster firing at the slew of nullifiers that chased after Trixie as she ran by, his free hand tapping rapidly at the keys of his laptop, searching his files for something, _anything_, to help plan what to do next.

_'It was expected; this was expected.' _he thought to himself as he alternated his focus between the targets and his data, _'So why is it that I still feel frustrated over this? Timmy, please, please, let us know you can pull off some kind of miracle for this one, too!'_

And the brunet was soon running by, occasionally leaping into the air and twisting around to get a view of the units swarming around him, then landing roughly and scrambling to keep going. He was searching for a weakness, that much A.J. could see, but his waning grace was evidence that his search was costing him dearly. If he didn't find something soon...

The laptop was going to take time to locate any useful information right away. The android assistants back in New York had just about flooded the Archives' computers with data concerning the reverse-engineered units, including the controllers, but it would take time to download it and find something of use immediately. Time that Timmy didn't have in abundance, thanks to nullifiers ripping shreds of mana from him each time he launched himself among them in search of a clue to defeat them.

"Dammit, this isn't good." the technician muttered under his breath, returning his attention to the battle and squeezing off several more shots, "C'mon, Timmy, don't let us down!"

* * *

Overhead, with the fairies spiralling around the massive tower, Wanda kept a steady grip on her hammer, watching the units buzzing close to her with a wary glare. The sickening feeling of nullification passed over her and she swerved aside, shrieking in a fury as she let the aerial nullifier have it with the full force of the Heartache Hammer. Its massive head smashed into shining metal and the unit was sent hurtling away, one more broken piece of machinery to join the others raining down from above.

Cosmo flew by her, intent on his personal mission of destroying the nullifiers before they came any closer to her. Zipping from squadron to squadron, he spun and twisted much like Timmy did below him, lashing out with the Windcutter to split a number of units in two. Where once the vacant, dopey expression had dominated his face, now there was only a cold, detached visage. The face of a soldier.

And following quickly after him, his own face bright with awe and the beginnings of some strange form of hero-worship, came Apollo, scimitar held tight in his hand as he tried to mimic the fluid twists and spins of the older fairy and destroy several more units. Though he was focusing on trying to get to the control units, as his smaller size enabled him a better chance of getting around the shields the devices brought up, he still hounded down his fair share of nullifiers. The only reason why he was up there and not flanking Trixie was she had wished for him to join the other fairies in the aerial combat, feeling confident enough in her own skills to keep herself defended against the ground units below them.

"Oh, why can't this be over quickly? Doing this goes against everything we're taught as fairy godparents!" Andromeda cried even as her Razoredge Fans sliced through a number of units and nets that threatened to overcome the group. Her dress fluttered in the wind, a slit torn into it as usual to allow her greater ease of movement as she 'danced' through the battle. "We're putting children in danger! I'm putting my **godchild **in danger!" she went on, "Why did that awful Remy boy even do all this to begin with? Why couldn't he just be happy with the wishes granted to him by that Juandissimo fellow?"

_'Why, indeed.'_ Wanda thought to herself, then sighed and gazed down at the concrete battlefield below her, watching her own godchild darting fluidly across the ground and lashing out with his staff at points to sweep away the shields of units to get to a controller, only to be driven back by a flood of nullifiers. There was the reason why Remy couldn't be happy, clad in black and suffering the fate of a Hero.

And all she could do to comfort him was stand by him as his fairy godmother.

* * *

Tootie focused on the mana around her, hoping there was enough for a spell, hoping she was sufficiently far away from nullifiers to cast it. This situation wasn't good; not for them and especially not for Timmy. She had glimpsed him searching the units for a new weakness, a new flaw to exploit. There was a strange, unnatural grace to the brunet that she had seen, that all of the Others had seen; a grace that was a far cry from the clumsy and slow movements that had been Timmy's trademark as a fifth-grader. Once he was so uncoordinated that he could easily trip over an insect; now it seemed as though gravity barely had control of his body. As though if it ever slipped, just slightly, on holding him to the ground, the boy would simply abandon earth and fly as freely as the fairies that raced above them.

But with each leap into the air to overlook the units, each escape from the dirty concrete he made to find a better vantage, he came down to earth less gracefully. A slight stumble at first, then more and more haphazardly as he continued his pursuit.

He was weakening. And there was enough mana to help him.

_"Agents of mana! Bestow upon us thine soothing touch!"_ she exclaimed, dagger aimed at Timmy as he came rushing closer to her side of the Spire, _"Nurse!"_ In brilliant flashes of light, a pair of nymph-like creatures appeared in nurse's uniforms, running for her and Timmy both, sporting tiny, cherub-like wings on their backs and carrying spheres of swirling iridescent energy... mana... in their hands. Not the strongest healing spell in her arsenal, but one that guaranteed delivery of the life-boosting energy to Timmy no matter where he ran.

And the smile on his face that was directed towards her as he dashed by her, the nurse still hot on his heels to deliver the mana, was all the reward she desired.

For the moment.


	8. Chapter 8

8

Dark Spire Three~

"Oh, bloody hell, they're pulling that same stunt again." Remy growled as he and his group reached the battlefield. He looked around, taking in the scene as Bender and Wendell scanned the same field in hopes of seeing Chip Skylark somewhere out there. Already the landscape was peppered with fallen units, mostly nullifiers, and a few of them were controllers. That seemed to be proof that the new defenses were working, if there were more nullifiers on the ground than controllers.

Still, why depend on Crock-Pot's hare-brained ideas of protecting the Dark Spires when he could easily do it himself, now that he had the trap in his hands?

"All right. Bender, Wendell, take your squadron and move in to the right. With any luck, Mr. Skylark will be wandering about the less chaotic sector of this lot." Remy began ordering, sweeping his hand in the direction he selected. He swept it the other way then. "Veronica, be a dear and head into that direction, into the fray as it were. You will find Trixie there attempting to curry favor with that loathsome redneck." he added as Bender and Wendell scurried off with their toothpaste monsters.

"Heh, heh! Like, this one's for Timmy!" Veronica declared and bounded towards the battle, pompoms clutched tightly in her grips.

"And as for you..." Remy began and looked around. Francis was nowhere to be seen. "What the-? Where in blazes is that madman?" he fumed and lifted his hands to his mouth, "Juandissimo!" A blast of purple smoke and the fairy was at his side, wincing at the surrounding field but glad that he was able to pull off simple magic. "Where is Francis?" the blonde demanded and Juandissimo shrugged.

"I am not sure. He was here when we arrived and now he's not. I do not keep track of him; he is not my responsibility." he returned bluntly. Remy glared at him and shook his head.

"Why do I even bother with asking you about things like this? I can't have him wandering about in public and free to talk!" he snapped and the fairy suddenly took on a more serious and sharp look to him, staring intensely back at the boy.

"About what, _mi amigo_? What is it that he knows that you are afraid of him sharing?" he asked in a low, dangerous tone.

"Nothing! None of your business! You answer to **me**, Juandissimo! You're **my **godparent and you obey **me**! I don't have to answer to you! I hold all the power here!" the blonde hissed scathingly. He turned his back on the fairy and ran out onto the field, the special trap tucked under one arm as he began his quest to get rid of the brunet immortal.

"You hold something else, Remy, and I want to know what it is. This is not healthy for you, _mi amigo_." Juandissimo muttered, shooting after his godchild as his own eyes began the search for Wanda.

* * *

They were definitely using the other units as shields. Timmy scowled as he swung Hanuman's Rod once again, batting away a destroyer as he glared at the controller flitting about before him and hiding behind the wall of nullifiers. Not only were they using the other units for protection, but the lousy things had decided to have a self-preservation program or something kick in. Anytime he tried to get close to one to use _Freosan_ or _Ofer Hoetu_, both of them forms of mana manipulation that could not be cancelled by the fields, the control unit would shoot back out of reach and a half-dozen nullifiers would jam themselves between him and it and, man, did that wreak havoc on him!

"Will you cut that out?" he snapped at this particular unit he'd been chasing for quite some time now. Tootie's spell to boost his personal mana supply had been of immense help, but that energy would only last for so long when these things kept chipping away at it by flooding the area around him with anti-magical wavelengths. He'd studied it carefully, watching its movements and testing its reactions to what he did. Every time, it shielded itself and nothing could get through the barrier to hit the unit itself.

All in all, very irritating.

Fed up with having the nullifiers face him each time he pressed for an attack on the controller, Timmy slammed the staff against the group of them, sending several skittering across the concrete in a flurry of sparks and broken circuits. He glared back at the control unit, and blinked as it seemed to flash its little lights wildly, almost as if it were in a panic, assuming the machine could be capable of feeling anything. It spun in place and a few destroyer units rushed in to take the place of the fallen nullifiers. Timmy dug in his heels, shrieking in pain as he skidded among the blades and spikes and emerged from them with his face bloodied and torn.

_"Light of mana! Fill the air with your blessing! Healing Circle!"_ Tootie's voice cried out and Timmy halted where he stood, dropping to his knees and bringing his hands up to cover his face. A burst of light seeped through the cracks between his fingers and he felt a slender hand come to rest on his shoulder. "Timmy! Are you okay? I saw what happened; how bad is it? Do you need a stronger healing spell?" the Goth blurted out in shock, "What were you **doing**?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Timmy returned shakily, fingertips pressing gingerly against healed skin to be sure everything was in place. He'd felt a good portion of his cheek get ripped away; thankfully, healing spells tended to rebuild flesh if cast immediately after the injury was inflicted. He looked up from his stained gloves to blink at the girl. She winced and he managed a weak grin. "Red's not my color." the brunet joked and immediately put out a shield to cover her and himself, spying a small squad of traps dive at them. Watching the control unit and cleaning his face as best he could, Timmy studied it and its 'guards', puzzled over its earlier reaction.

He had destroyed a portion of its shield, then it panicked, then it called in destroyers to replace the nullifiers. It still had a couple of aerial nullifiers, but the rest of the squadron was aerial destroyers. He glanced over at the fallen units. One, two, three... three nullifiers down. Timmy returned to the flitting controller. One, two, three destroyers and one, two, three nullifiers. There weren't any others in this set of units.

Six units guarded the controller, and it freaked out if it had less than six on hand. How was this information useful? Timmy thought harder on it, then, in a burst of annoyance at the units still ramming his shield, altered his thoughts on the appearance of _Boltzman's Shield_. Tootie gripped his shoulder in surprise as the crystalline blue force field erupted into spikes of its own, spearing through every device that shot at it.

"Good God, Timmy, what pissed you off?" Tootie breathed, eyes wide as she took in the sight of shimmering spears impaling the aerial units and several ground units.

"This situation." the brunet grumbled and tilted his head, "I think I wiped out this whole squadron, except for those six and the controller." The Goth pressed her free hand out against the field and peered through at the control unit.

"You scared it. Look, it's using the last of the squadron as a shield just like you." she remarked. Timmy stood at last and watched it with her, a slight frown on his face.

"Yeah. It sent all the other ones after us, but it kept those six. Like it always has to have six units, or else it'll panic. If I destroyed those last six, what would happen to the controller?" he mused and winced as the Fenton Phones came on.

_"Hey! Timmy, what the hell's wrong with you? You just wiped out a whole friggin' squad of units! Don't copy Cosmo! We need those to overload the servers!"_ Chester yelled out.

"Don't order me around! I know what I'm doing!" the brunet snapped back and reached up to adjust the frequency, "A.J.! I just learned something about the control units. What can you make of this?"

_"What's the situation?"_

"These things seem to always want to have six aerial nullifiers guarding them, and if they don't have any units in the squad, they get kinda panicky and then they call for other units to take the nullifiers' place." the brunet explained carefully, "Do you have any ideas on how this could help us?"

_"One second!"_

* * *

On A.J.'s end, the boy tapped at his laptop, searching for additional information as his other hand dropped the blaster and reached for the Fenton Phones, adjusting the frequency.

"Who's covering Timmy?" he called out and Elmer responded immediately, "Do you see the controller?"

_"Yeah, but every time I shoot at it, the other units block the laser."_

"Keep shooting at it. I want you to destroy all the units that are with the control unit. I have a hunch on what might be happening..." A.J. told him. There was an affirmative sigh, then several seconds of silence and...

_"A.J., the control unit is making a run for it!"_ Timmy exclaimed.

_"It's really freaked out now. I think it's trying to get to one of the other squads of units."_ Tootie added in surprise. A.J. grinned and put his focus back on his laptop.

"I think I've got it! I bet they have a self-preservation protocol running that has the control unit set to be guarded by six nullifiers at all times." the boy remarked proudly, "If they run out of any units and are completely alone, the protocol commands them to retreat to the nearest squad for protection. I can spoof the aerial nullifiers' transmission signals to make the controllers think they already have the required units acting as the shield. They'll send the real ones off to attack and be completely open to our attacks!"

_"Great idea! How soon can you start tricking the units?"_ Timmy returned excitedly.

"Give me a few minutes to grab a set of nullifier signals and take over some local Wi-Fi stations. I'll have them all broadcasting enough to confuse the control units!" A.J. declared, setting his own adapter to begin searching the local businesses and homes for unsecured connections. "In the meantime, pull everyone back so we can get more snipers!"

_"I'll send Trixie and Chip back to help. Tootie and I will keep drawing the attentions of the units so the real nullifiers are too busy to replace the fakes."_ Timmy agreed, _"Man, am I glad you're on my side!"_

"What are friends for?" A.J. returned with a chuckle as he continued working on his laptop.

* * *

Trixie made her turns a touch slowly when it came to this area. If she was in any trouble, it would be okay, because the sniper in this particular sector would always drop everything to help her. She just wanted to see how he was doing. And he was doing okay, from what she could see, just standing there with the blaster aimed directly at the units flying and stomping after her. Such a serious face!

She laughed and waved her arm to catch his attention, basking happily in the shy smile he flashed her before returning to shoot away a nullifier. He was so bashful, despite that strangely powerful aura he possessed. She giggled as she ran on and Apollo picked up the sound in the Fenton Phones.

_"Trixie? Are you giggling?"_ he asked and she hummed her response, _"Can I ask what brought this on? Did you score points with Timmy?"_

"No, I don't think so." Trixie returned with a sudden disheartened sigh, thoughts turning from the blonde Leader of the Others to the brunet immortal, the leader of Team Turner. No, getting on Timmy's good side was far more difficult to do now than it had been when they were in elementary school. Back then, all Trixie had to do was flutter her eyelashes at him and Timmy was putty in her hands. Now if she tried the same thing, the boy barely blinked back. At the least, he would ask if there was something in her eye; at most, he'd glare at her and tell her to knock it off. A kiss was different. He used to have that familiar lovesick look to him when he got one, but now he'd just stiffen and look confused, then a strangely trapped expression would come over him and he'd start looking for an escape.

Often that escape was Tootie. She ground her teeth in sudden anger.

_"Whoa! What's with the evil growl there?"_ her fairy godfather asked.

"I wish Timmy didn't try so hard to run away from me." Trixie grumbled under her breath. A sigh of exasperation transmitted through the Phones.

_"Trixie, what have I told you about making wishes that directly affect Timmy?"_

"To stop doing it. I can't help it. Wishes are kinda automatic for me." the former Popular sighed helplessly and blinked as she noticed movement ahead of her, "What in the world-?"

_"Hiiiyaaah!"_ a slender form screeched out as it vaulted into the air, spun and twisted a few times, then landed in front of her gracefully. Trixie skidded to a halt and stared in shock as Veronica stood in a partial crouch before her, grinning crazily as her pompoms tinkled from her motions. "Hiya, Trixie!" the blonde greeted brightly, "How's my former best friend doing tonight?"

"Veronica? What are **you **doing here?" Trixie exclaimed, taking in the sight of her once closest friend, "What is that thing you're wearing? It looks like the Aces High armor!"

"Don't call me that!" Veronica shrieked furiously, shaking her pompoms wildly and making the bell-like tones louder, "Call me Trixie! I'm gonna be the new Trixie and Timmy will love only me!" The Asian's eyes went wide.

"What the hell are you babbling about? **I'm **Trixie! And what do you mean that Timmy will love you?" she blurted out, "How did you find out he was even alive?" The blonde thrust out an arm, pointing at her with one of the pompoms as she laughed.

"I knew it! See? See? Like, that's totally proof right there that Timmy Turner is alive! My former best friend has seen him too!" she cried exultantly, "I knew all along that Timmy couldn't die! He's here in Dimmsdale and he's gonna be mine!" She straightened and the smile turned menacing as she gathered herself for what looked like a cheer routine. "Remy promised to help me take your place if I get rid of you for good. Once I become the new Trixie permanently, Timmy will have no choice but to come out of the shadows and love only me." she purred darkly, "Remy will take care of the rest with Bender and Wendell and Francis, but I get the pleasure of killing you myself."

_"Trixie! What's going on? How did Veronica get here?"_ Apollo called down in alarm and she put her hand up to the Phones.

"Alert the Others! We're under attack by Remy and his gang!" Trixie cried and screamed as the cheerleader launched herself at the Asian, twisting in the air before coming down in a drill kick that Trixie barely dodged in time. Flipping backwards several feet, she collected herself and took up a battle stance, glaring at the blonde that transformed everyday cheerleader moves into a strange and deadly form of martial art as she sped closer to her.

"Hyaaah!" Veronica shrieked and lashed out with one of her pompoms. Trixie jumped back, yelping in astonishment as several strands of her hair were suddenly sliced shorter. The blonde laughed viciously. "Like my new accessories? Remy gave them to me! They're, like, made out of ribbon-cut steel!" she declared haughtily, "And they're totally gonna rip your face to shreds!"

"If it's a fight to the finish you want to steal my identity, then bring it on, Little Miss Psychopath!" Trixie snapped, gripping the steel bars in her gauntlets tighter, "But it'll snow in Hell before I let you lay a hand on Timmy Turner!"

And the two girls dove for each other, screaming in feminine fury.

* * *

"I'm not getting an answer from Trixie." Timmy growled as he and Tootie ran alongside one another, "You?"

"Nothing. Chip's already gotten the word and should be heading back right about..." the Goth began and both teens flinched at the yell that came through the Fenton Phones.

_"Team Turner! We've got trouble! Veronica's here and she's attacking Trixie! Somebody help her! I'm already on the way, but I'm being tailed by fairy traps!"_ Apollo barked out. Tootie immediately pulled her lips back in a disgusted snarl as Timmy shuddered, then shook himself off.

"Wait, wait, wait... Veronica? _Veronica?_ Miss 'I-Wanna-Be-Trixie' Veronica Star? The Crazy One? She's **here**?" he questioned dumbly, "Why the heck is she **here**? How did she even know to come here to find Trixie?" Tootie huffed and tossed her head, pigtails swishing by her shoulders with the motion.

"I give you three guesses, but I bet you'll only need one." she grumbled and the brunet pulled one hand over his face in exasperation.

"Remy." he groaned, "Why won't he just let this **go** already? We're gonna take out all of his towers anyway; why the heck is he putting us through all this stupidity trying to save them?"

"Duh. He's a Dimmsdale native." Tootie returned, casting a glance back at the units trailing them, "And we might wanna pick up the speed here."

_"What the hell is this?"_ Chip's voice suddenly broadcast in fury, _"Hey, Timmy, what the hell are Bender and Wendell doing here? Not again! **Not again!**"_

"Oh, that's it!" Timmy hissed, eyes flashing angrily as a flare of mana burst around him, "He's gone too far!" He halted, spun around and threw a hand out at the units following him and Tootie, sending out a rush of mana that blew the devices away in a violent burst of wind, _Gail Fortia_. He touched fingers to the Fenton Phones and Tootie stared at him in amazement as the brunet began issuing orders to the team.

"Cosmo! We've got suspicions of Remy being here! Stay out of sight and keep destroying nullifiers!" Timmy declared, "Wanda! As soon as you're able, break free of the attack and come with me! I'll need you to distract Juandissimo! Andromeda! Break loose and return to Tootie! Apollo, continue pursuit of Trixie! I'll be on my way to help!"

"What?" the Goth cried, a surge of jealous anger rushing through her. He barely glanced at her as he went on.

"A.J., I need you to hurry up on the controllers! We don't have much time before Remy and his gang screw things up for us! Chester, Sanjay, Elmer! Double up on your efforts to shoot those things down and move with the units! Standing in one place isn't gonna cut it anymore! Vicky, keep them covered and move with them! Destroy whatever comes near them!" the brunet fired off the orders rapidly, "Chip, retreat from the field however you can; I'm sending Tootie to help you out! Move it, people; Dimmsdale's counting on us!"

_"I told you Combat Timmy was gonna be a pain."_ A.J. muttered.

"I'm not leaving you to get the crud beat out of you by Remy's tricks again!" Tootie snapped at the brunet, agreeing internally with A.J.'s observation on him, "I'm going with you!"

"I'm not going after Remy right now; I'm gonna help Trixie deal with Veronica! At the least, I can be a distraction to Veronica so Trixie can get out of that mess!" Timmy shot back, "You go and act as backup to Chip! If his teeth get stolen, Remy will have a stronger weapon to use against us and the Tooth Fairy will never forgive me for letting that Dental Laser power fall into the wrong hands!" He slung his pack around and unzipped it, dipping his hand in to grab a small satchel, then handing it to her.

"What's this?" Tootie asked in confusion. The bag had a weighty feel to it, similar to a sack of marbles.

"Some healing items I carry around. I heard how you used Caleb's mana crystals to pull mana and heal me that one time, so I made a few small ones for emergencies." the brunet remarked as he slung the pack back on, eyeing the skies to be sure the units didn't rush back at them too soon, "They didn't come out quite right, but if they can help you out, use them." He motioned towards the other side of the Spire. "Go, Tootie! Hurry!" Timmy exclaimed, "The units are coming back!"

"All right, I'm going! But be careful, okay?" Tootie returned irritably and darted off. The young immortal sighed in exasperation and raced off himself. He would be fine; it's not like there was anything out there that could seriously hurt him now!

* * *

Remy searched the battlefield field with his eyes, hugging the precious trap in his arms as he sought out the specific blur of black that had annoyed him for so many months. Tonight was the night; tonight, Neogene would finally be dealt with, and that precious power the immortal possessed would belong to him alone!

Of course, things weren't going exactly as planned, but that wasn't his fault. Veronica was tending to Trixie rather nicely, and she would soon be dead for betraying him so many times. Remy winced a bit at that thought; Trixie would be 'taken care of', yes.

Juandissimo was off catering to the southern head again. Bloody over-sexed Latino...

The dentist duo and their monsters were chasing after Chip Skylark somewhere nearby. Regardless of whether or not they got him, they would have to stay in debt to him. He'd just wish up something else to dangle over their heads.

And where the bloody hell did Francis go off to?

"Oh, bother! Bugger him, then; without protection, his life will end just as quickly and I can finally rest easier at night." Remy muttered. Jogging closer to the Spire, he continued looking around himself. With all the craziness going on, Neogene was bound to appear at one spot or another to 'save the day' or something. It was just a matter of spotting him first. He continued turning his head one way, then another, trying to find that particular blur of black and brown that was the annoying little immortal.

Immortality. Ludicrous idea. He couldn't really be immortal, right? He was just really hard to kill because he could use magic to heal himself and junk, that's all. Still, if such a thing was possible, and if he could get control of that along with Neogene's magic...

Remy grinned broadly as he finally spotted the young immortal racing towards the dueling girls. Bingo. Of course he'd go and help Trixie. What boy wouldn't want to do something to curry that little slut's favor?

He dashed forward with the armor's enhanced speed, picking out a flash grenade from the small armaments attached to his waist. As he got close, Remy threw it fiercely and laughed as it exploded near Neogene, sending him tumbling aside in shock and surprise.

"Well, well, well!" Remy purred as he walked towards the fallen magic-user, juggling the trap in one hand, "Fancy meeting you here on this fine night!"

"Remy!" the brunet snarled, leaping up to his feet and calling up several red-gold spheres that spun around his hands, "What the heck are you thinking? Attacking Trixie and Chip like that, you're gonna get someone killed!"

Internal wince. This guy was jabbing at him, talking like that.

"It's their fault for getting involved with you. Not my problem." he replied coolly, quelling that sick feeling he got at the idea of someone dying because of his commands. He was just a kid, really, and a rich one at that; he wasn't supposed to be dealing with things like this!

"Call them off! Don't force me to do anything I don't want to!" the other boy snapped at him.

"**You're **the one who forced **me** to do things **I** didn't want to!" Remy snapped back, "Always interfering with my plans, tearing down my beautiful Spires, ruining my wishes! You're as horribly annoying as Turner had been! Thank God **he's** not the immortal one I have to deal with or I'd go absolutely batty!"

The brunet stared at him, head tilted curiously, then began laughing. Remy stiffened indignantly, hugging the trap close to his body. What the bloody hell was this brat's problem?

"So, you're glad that Timmy Turner hasn't returned from grave, huh?" Neogene asked after he finally got over himself, the spheres of fire spiralling around his hands still, "Funny. Would you like me to recommend a few good asylums for you? Y'know... just in case he happens to come skipping back here in his little pink hat again?" He grinned cruelly, "Because I know more about what happened to Timmy than you think."

Remy froze, eyes wide. No, he couldn't know! He kept everything secret, so very secret. There was no way he could know...

"You're bluffing!" Remy finally shot back shakily, "Timmy Turner died falling off that toy when that Francis brute pushed him! He's good and buried and he's not coming back!"

"People thought Chip died. He's still here. I was killed in my home town, yet here I am, walking the earth." Neogene returned bluntly, "And you can try to kill me all you like, I can't die again." Remy blinked, then smiled.

"You're right. I can't kill you. So I shouldn't bother anymore." the blonde remarked grimly, "And you won't be needing to bother with this little city anymore, either. You won't be around for it after tonight." Neogene blinked at him in confusion.

"What? What do you mean? What are you-?" he began questioning and Remy held out the trap, preparing to throw it.

"With this, I won't have to deal with you anymore and I'll have everything I want! Your power will be mine!" the boy millionaire yelled and hurled the trap at the brunet.

It looked just like a crystal at first, but as it sailed through the air towards the brunet, it changed...

_"DNA match confirmed. Initiating capture."_ the device suddenly beeped out dully and the crystal exploded in brilliant light. Remy held up an arm to protect his eyes from the blinding flash, listening in a mix of delight and confusion as Neogene screamed in horror.

**"Let go of me!"** the brunet shrieked and Remy dared to peek out at him.

He was held in place by the four faces of the crystal, steel-like tendrils wrapped around his arms and legs. A console of some sort just grew from each facet of the crystal, forming before the teen as a glass bubble pinged into place beneath it. Remy blinked rapidly for a moment, then approached the trapped figure with a shaky grin.

"I don't believe it! It actually worked!" he chuckled nervously and reached out to the console with a trembling hand, "Now, what was that input password again?" He tapped at the keys as Neogene struggled furiously to get loose.

"Let me go! What the heck is this thing? I can't move a single inch!" the brunet snarled and clenched his fists tightly, a pinkish-red glow beginning to form around them, "If this is what you want out of me, then let me show you just how much power I **really** have!" Remy only smiled as he finished typing in the password.

"You dolt..." he murmured and stepped back, grinning at the brunet, "That's exactly what I wanted you to do." The console beeped and the faces of crystal began to glow eerily. For a moment, Neogene looked puzzled, head twisting to look at each of the glowing facets. Then the tendrils shimmered around his limbs and he uttered a sharp cry, body tensing as he tried to struggle again.

"Waaaah! What is this?" the young immortal screamed as the glass bubble began to fill with pink smoke. Remy bent to study it, smiling.

"It's a type of extraction trap, mongrel." he replied, "A gift from my benefactors, this will drain away all the magic power you possess and make you nice and docile." He glanced up at the shaking brunet, smile growing wider. "And once all that is in my hands, Dimmsdale will have no choice but to declare me its Heart, or it will die by the same power you used to 'save' it!" he declared, the night air filling with his laughter.

* * *

"Five, six, seven... eight local Wi-Fi spots opened!" A.J. exclaimed in triumph, "Now I just have to send out the signal to each one and force them to broadcast it all at the same time!" He tapped at the Fenton Phones to check in on the rest of the group, winced at a sudden shriek that seemed to be taking up the frequency, then shut it off. "Okay, I don't know **what** the heck that was, but apparently nobody heard my latest triumph." he grumbled, "A genius is always unappreciated. Ah, well. Here goes!"

He tapped at the keyboard and looked up to watch how the units would react. Only a minute before the signals permeated the local area...

* * *

Sanjay picked off several more units as he watched the fairies swoop down from above and split apart to rush to their assigned godchildren, all save for Cosmo, who remained high and out of sight to continue his one-fairy rage against the machines. Vicky yelled out ferociously as she attacked each wayward destroyer unit that came too close to them, and with Elmer alternating between shooting them down and just beating them to inactivity with his fists, there was hardly anything to really threaten them. So when Chester yelped in angered surprise and declared he was leaving them, there was little resistance offered to stop him. Especially when he yelled the reason **why** he was leaving.

"She's still fighting that crazy cheerleader! Why isn't anyone helping her? Didn't Timmy say he was gonna go and help?" the blonde exclaimed in shock and confusion.

"Maybe he's got problems of his own, ya ever think about that?" Vicky snapped back, slamming her twin blades down onto another unit. She glared over her shoulder at him, "I'm pretending I'm smacking his undead head over here since he sent my kid sister off to deal with some nutjob dentists! If you find him, sock him in the head for me!"

"I'm going over there to break that fight up! You guys keep attacking the units and distracting them!" Chester called back as he raced away from them, "I'll be right back! And somebody contact Timmy and let him know what's going on!"

"Eeps!" Elmer squeaked as Sanjay and Vicky stared back at him. He rubbed his head, a puzzled expression on his face. "I tried that just now. All I hear is someone screaming." he explained and looked worried, "I hope that wasn't Timmy, but it sounded an awful lot like him."

"Then I shall go and investigate. You two keep attacking!" Sanjay immediately declared and darted off in another direction, holding his laser rifle aside so it wouldn't slow him down.

_"Ready? Heeyah!"_ Vicky snapped, kicking at one floating unit to send it crashing against another. Glaring at the boy that was left behind, she snorted in disdain. "If I didn't know better, I'd say this night was shot all to hell." she remarked scathingly. Elmer sighed in resignation.

"I think it might be already." he agreed quietly, then took on a fearful expression, "But don't tell that to Chester or Timmy! Last thing I need is to panic at the idea of them getting mad at me!" Vicky only grinned.

* * *

He watched the unit before him slide apart into two halves before it exploded in a fireball of twisted metal and melting silicon, the Windcutter held easily, loosely, in his hands. This was one of few times he relied on that dark voice inside him to help guide him through this. Almost like they were synched up, moving him through battlefields fluidly, with deadly grace. He sighed and shook his head.

No, he couldn't think like that. This was just something he learned to do after promising to protect Timmy and Wanda, especially since he failed so miserably to protect Timmy, prevent his death...

...again...

"I suspected you would be up here, _hombre_." a husky Latino voice crooned behind him. Chuckling in an oddly dark tone, Cosmo slowly turned to face his rival, his grip on the scythe still lazy. Unafraid.

"And here I thought you'd be chasing my wife." the green-haired fairy mused uncharacteristically, "Or is it that you've had your eyes on me all this time?" Juandissimo took on a startled look, switched to indignant, then looked fairly repulsed once his words sunk in.

"Gah, you are even more _éstupido_ than I thought if you would dare to say such things to me!" the muscular fairy retorted and pulled his rapier forth, directing it at Cosmo in challenge. "I am here to battle for my beautiful Wanda! She is to be mine, and I have the blessings of my godchild, who has promised her to me when this unsexy plan is finally over and done with!" he declared in a booming voice, "You do not deserve her!" He paused in suspicion as Cosmo only laughed again, a wry and haunting sound that just didn't seem natural coming from him. But then again, Juandissimo was seeing a lot of things surrounding him and those he knew as being more and more unnatural, abnormal. Sometimes, he wondered if he ever really knew them all to begin with.

"Heh, you're right about that." Cosmo finally murmured, "I don't deserve her, and my reason for that will remain my own. I don't deserve the beautiful gift she gave me, the one I lost because of who and what I am. The one I regained by stroke of fate, and lost again because of the jealousy of others. But they are mine and mine alone. I won't let you take either one."

"Eh? This doesn't sound like the Cosmo I know." Juandissimo remarked in confusion, a worried expression coming over him. An intelligent Cosmo? God save them all if that was true.

The green-haired fairy blinked suddenly and shook his head fiercely before giving him a puzzled look.

"Huh? Was I saying something?" he asked and Juandissimo felt the tiniest bit of relief. That was more like it. Cosmo blinked again, then frowned, tightening his grip on the Windcutter. "Hey! It's Muscles McGoo again! What do you want? You're not getting my wife! Beat it!" he yelled and waved the scythe at him amateurishly, "Shoo! Shoo! Go away!"

"I told you, I am here to battle you for Wanda!" Juandissimo snapped back.

"Yeah? Well, why didn't you say so?" Cosmo declared in irritation, "Man, and they call **me** stupid? I'm not the one floating around and wasting people's times with ripping shirts and blah blah blah!" He glanced aside, whipped the Windcutter with one hand, then watched coldly as the remnants of yet another nullifier rained down in a fiery demise before returning to his original train of thought, "You wanna rethink that, maybe?"

"What happened before was a fluke! Dumb luck! Someone as sexy as me cannot lose to one as empty-headed as you!" the Latino fairy shot back, "I demand a rematch!" The fairy before him seemed to shudder, head bowed enough to hide his face, then lifted narrowed eyes to lock onto him.

"Then don't bleed too much on my blade." Cosmo hissed in a strangely icy tone, "I just cleaned it." With that, he shot forward, the scythe lashing before him in a silver blur as Juandissimo yelped and hurriedly brought the rapier around to parry the hit. He flitted backwards, swinging the sword to block the incoming shots as fast as he could see them coming in. **Definitely** not like the Cosmo he knew!

Juandissimo grabbed for his wand, waved it and conjured up a familiar toy and distraction.

"Cosmo! Look! String!" he exclaimed in hopes of swaying the other fairy's attention. That hope was quickly snuffed out as the floating bit of twine was sliced to ribbons and the invisible blades of air just kept coming.

"Look! I'll give you a nickel! A _shiiiiny_ nickel!" Juandissimo blurted out, waving his wand to conjure the silvery piece of currency. Another slice of air and it, too, was little more than useless metal.

This **wasn't** good at all! Not only was Cosmo just ignoring everything that would normally grab and hold his attention for hours on end, but...

He wasn't talking.

The Latino fairy raced madly across the skies, evading the air blades and the scythe as much as possible, mind fracturing at the revelation. Never in all the centuries he could recall had Cosmo **ever **kept his mouth shut for more than a few seconds. He was a _blithering _idiot for good reason: he babbled nonsense almost nonstop. But this was new; this was unheard of; and it terrified Juandissimo.

What could have changed Cosmo so much that his focus was entirely set on a single goal? So much that he didn't bother to babble, to stop and play with bits of string and coins? To giggle and snicker like a naïve baby? It was almost as if... Cosmo wasn't Cosmo anymore.

But that couldn't be, right?


	9. Chapter 9

9

Dark Spire Three~

"Ten, nine, eight..." A.J. counted to himself as he continued firing the laser rifle to keep the units off of him and the laptop. Just a few more seconds now, and his program would launch the signals. He glanced aside at the screen to check it, then went back to firing. "Come on! Hurry!" A beep sounded and A.J. set the gun aside in favor of tapping at the laptop, "Bingo! Signal sent!" His fingers flew over the keys, entering false IDs and 'convincing' each controller that the six signals querying them were nullifiers obeying the order to defend it.

_"It's working! I can shoot down the nullifiers protecting the controllers and they're not calling new ones!"_ Elmer exclaimed.

"I need someone to keep me covered! I can't bounce back and forth between suppressive fire and this! I have to keep my attention on the signals!" A.J. called back, "Vicky! Can you cover me?"

_"Yeah, yeah! Hang on; I'll be right there!"_ the redhead groused. A.J. snatched up the rifle, squeezed a few more shots off at a small squadron of units bearing down on him, then turned his attentions back to the compiled list of generated IDs. Bit by bit, he was bringing down the control units' defenses. A little longer and they'd all be destroyed, tipping the battle back to their favor. The teen genius could only hope the rest of the team could pull through on their own skirmishes.

* * *

Trixie was definitely scratching this girl off of her Friend list, ducking and dodging Veronica's attacks with little difficulty. The blonde cartwheeled aside from her sweeping kicks and did backflips and overhead jumps to evade her punches. This was the first time the Asian found herself breaking a serious sweat in a confrontation; who knew Veronica could actually give her a run for her money?

At the same time, though, she was still sharp enough to spin and bend around the attempted slashes of the cheerleader's killer pom-poms, lashing out to block with the mythril gauntlets if she couldn't escape in time and thankful that the ribbon steel wasn't enough to cut into them. Too bad she couldn't say the same about her hair. The ends were completely uneven and her hairband had long since become a casualty. It would probably be easier if she could get Apollo close enough to grant her a wish or two, but the trail of units that had followed him wasn't letting up and he was too busy dealing with them to offer much support.

"God, can't you just give up and go home already?" Trixie snapped, throwing another punch that the insane girl dodged by falling into a perfect split.

"Not until you're gone! I totally know that you doing this is, like, hurting Timmy's feelings!" Veronica retorted, lifting herself with her hands and twisting her body so that her split would trip over the Asian. She barely kept her balance by performing a sideways flip that carried her over both leg sweeps. The blonde spiralled onto her feet again and shook her pom-poms indignantly. "Like, all you ever cared about is your own totally stupid selfish self!" Veronica accused, "And it's all your fault that Timmy had to, like, go away and totally abandon us and stuff!"

"That's not true! He said it wasn't my fault!" Trixie shot back unsteadily, breathing hard as she tried to recover some energy from the brief respite the crazy girl's rambling gave her. Veronica shook her head, eyes flashing furiously.

"You're always, like, trying to avoid the blame and stuff, but it's totally not gonna help you now!" the young valley girl declared, "And when you're, like, dead and all, I'm gonna be the new Trixie and Timmy will totally fall in love with me and be mine!" She grinned hugely, the mad light shining in her blue eyes even brighter. "Now I'm gonna kick it up!"

With that, Veronica spread her arms out and the pom-poms in her hands suddenly began to spin, humming as centrifugal force threw the ribbon-cut steel strands out to form deadly sharp blades. Trixie uttered a cry of alarm and leaped back as her former best friend shot forward, swiping at her with the transformed weapons. Not good! Maybe Veronica's instability was making her unaware of the physical toll the fight was taking on her, but Trixie was feeling it just fine. And this head-to-head duel was wearing her out; she couldn't last much longer at this intensity!

"Veronica! Have you totally lost it?" she screamed back, lashing out with her arms to block the blades and praying that the mythril wouldn't fail to protect her, "I told you already! Timmy said it's not my fault!" The other girl was swinging wildly now, giggles falling through her toothy grin in rapid fire sequence. There was an opening and Trixie took it, spinning on one heel to kick away one of the spinning pom-poms. Veronica tumbled backwards and held the remaining one forward, still smiling.

"And you just keep lying and lying and lying!" she giggled. Trixie shook her head furiously.

"You don't get it, do you? Timmy was murdered! It's all a set-up to make Dimmsdale turn out like this!" the Asian snapped and bit her lip almost immediately after. Maybe she shouldn't have said that?

Veronica's eyes widened, her smile stretching just a little further, her teeth clenching together just a little harder. Her giggles burst forth even more rapidly, filling the air with their hyena-like sound. She hugged herself, twisting back and forth in place as she finally erupted in full out laughter, all the while watching the startled teen standing just a few yards away.

"Mur-der-er! Mur-der-er! Mur-der-er!" the blonde sang almost gaily, "Beautiful, beautiful! Now I totally have a better reason to kill you, Trixie! Thank you, thank you, _thank you_, **thank you**!" And she launched into the air again with a spin, shrieking in maddened joy as Trixie raced to avoid the attack.

Yeah, she was better off not having said anything at all.

* * *

Apollo was having a heck of a time shaking the traps and destroyers that flew after him in a frenzy, thankful that Wanda was flying alongside and smashing into them with her hammer. She continued glancing away often, though, biting her lip in a nervous attempt to ward off panic. Whatever ability she had to detect when Timmy was in danger was probably ringing off in her head like mad and she was doing all she could to ignore it for the moment to help out the fairy swordsman. After all, the orders were for her to go to him the moment she could get free, but with Apollo still tailed by so many fairy traps, the chances of her being able to get to him were rapidly disappearing.

"Just go to him already and let me handle this!" he yelled out through the Fenton Phones, "I'll drag these things down towards the snipers!"

_"Are you sure? I don't want to find out that you got captured or killed!"_ Wanda cried in concern, _"My Timmy Sense is blaring, but we can't afford to lose a fairy godparent again!"_

"I'll be fine! Just get going!" the fairy swordsman snapped and Wanda nodded quickly before rushing away in a blur of pink. Apollo watched her zip away out of the corner of his eye before sighing in relief and taking to the higher levels of the battlefield. "Okay, okay. I can do this." he whispered to himself, "I'm the best they had in the corps for this. Jorgen said so. If Cosmo can do it, so can I. I just have to gather enough magic for it." He lifted his wand and focused intently on it, releasing a ribbon of red magic from the golden star and swirling it around himself to form the familiar corkscrew from so many weeks ago. Just like for Cosmo, the anti-magic devices soared up after him, attracted by the spiralling band of magic that he was generating.

Apollo began to slow his ascent, letting them all gather around and surround him in a silver cloud. Then, muttering a quick prayer that it would perform like he hoped it would, the fairy swordsman lashed out with the wand, slicing through the cloud with the ribbon of magic. An expression of shock and disbelief quickly followed by joy and relief flashed across his face as the ribbon tore into the devices and destroyed them as easily as Cosmo had done back at Spire Four.

"I did it! I did it!" he exclaimed in jubilation, then suddenly shuddered as a wave of exhaustion rushed through his body, "Whoa... whoa... What's... happening?" Apollo shook his head, turning pale as his vision began darkening, "No... no! My magic...!"

That attack... Cosmo's Doom Ribbon used up a massive amount of magical energy! But if that was true, then how could Cosmo have used it in range of a Dark Spire and still have the strength to keep fighting when he, a top-ranking member of the Fairy Marines, used it only once in the same conditions and was now about to pass out at 800 feet above street level?

The rumor must have been true; Cosmo's magic level, the amount of power he had... no wonder...

"That's why..." Apollo mumbled as he staggered drunkenly from the sky on barely fluttering wings towards Trixie, "That's why they called him that... in the military... The ultimate weapon..." He curled up on himself and retched, then fell, shuddering, from the aerial battlefield.

* * *

Apollo wasn't the only one suffering from a sudden drop in magical energy. Timmy faced his own crisis, having been caught in one of Remy's traps just minutes ago and already feeling the effects of the crystalline object's draining ability. He didn't have much strength left, just enough to keep his eyes somewhat open and focused on the glass bubble filling up with his personal mana supply. The rest of his limbs felt heavy and numb, so his hazy mind considered it a good thing that the metal tendrils were holding him up and supporting them. Part of him thought it would also be a good thing if he just let go of consciousness and sleep the rest of the fight away, but part of him still managed to scream in a faint and furious voice that he should fight back, struggle, _do something_ besides just stand there and let Remy steal away all his mana and use it for some stupid thing.

A little longer, and he wouldn't have the strength to even hear that voice. He had to get Wanda's attention, get some help breaking out of this thing; he just didn't have enough energy to do it himself. The only way he could think of was fast and easy, but would open up a whole can of worms he didn't want to waste energy worrying about.

Timmy winced as he felt a new wave of exhaustion pass over him; Remy hadn't been kidding when he said this thing would sedate him heavily. Speaking of Remy... He lifted his gaze to focus on the blonde more closely and noted with some interest that Juandissimo wasn't with him, at least not in plain view. Had the fairy gone elsewhere to help scatter his team and destroy their plans? Probably found Wanda and was trying to sweet talk to her again.

Why was this happening anyway? More than just the usual 'Why me' whining he often thought whenever similar situations popped up for him in these Spire battles, this was an honestly baffling idea. Why was Remy trying to get him sedated by draining out his mana, his 'magical power', when beforehand he'd been trying every trick in the book to get rid of him in more permanent ways? Or at least as permanent as could be done to a mortal human; those tricks didn't quite work out on an immortal.

"Almost full now. Then it'll all be over." Remy mused aloud. Timmy half-listened to him, now puzzling over his earlier words. He said something about his benefactors; that meant that someone was helping Remy and this trap thing must have been given to him by those helpers. The brunet's mind spun trying to make sense of things, then was jolted out of those thoughts by the sounds of gunfire. "What the bloody hell is going on now?" Remy shrieked in response and Timmy managed to turn his head to see what was happening.

Sanjay was racing onto the scene, holding his laser rifle with one arm and aiming a small firearm at them in his free hand. There was a furious expression on his face that seemed far out of place for the little Hindu. Timmy blinked owlishly at the gun in Sanjay's hand. He didn't remember A.J. issuing out weapons like that for the team; they didn't even look like the usual design that the teen genius was known for. In fact, that looked like a **real** gun. Why would Sanjay have a real gun? And where'd he get it?

"Get away from him at once, you very cruel person, you!" Sanjay yelled and Remy jumped back in alarm, face paling in momentary realization of what he was facing.

"Good God, are those **actual** bullets you're firing at me? Are you bloody mad, you wretched foreign urchin?" he yelled in horror. Sanjay growled in response and waved the gun at the collection of crystals.

"What is this thing? Tell me quickly! What is it doing to Timothy?" he demanded to know. Timmy blinked again and struggled to call out.

"H-help!" he croaked weakly, "D-drain!" The Hindu's eyes flashed dangerously at Remy once those words reached him.

"What does that mean? Why does he sound like that?" Sanjay snapped new questions and the blonde held his hands up in a helpless gesture, eyes still locked on the small handgun that remained pointed at him.

"I don't really know! Honest! It just pulls his magic out and stores it away!" he babbled.

"Then I shall remedy this and set my comrade free!" Sanjay retorted and turned on the crystalline device, firing on each facet until it shattered, freeing one limb after another. Remy shrieked in outrage and dismay.

"What are you doing? Stop firing, you dolt!" he cried and ran for the crystal trap. Timmy pulled himself free of the broken trap, staggering as Sanjay fired off a few rounds at the facets holding his legs in place. Frantic to salvage part of the device, the blonde snatched away the glass bubble of pink mana and hugged it close to his body. "Fine! Take your wretched mongrel back! I'll get him eventually!" Remy declared in a huff, "I've already gotten what I wanted out of him for now!"

The Hindu glared at him as he moved carefully over to Timmy's side, standing guard as he silently dared Remy to try anything to harm them. The brunet had collapsed into a limp little heap on the ground once he lost all support of the crystalline trap, which now lay in pieces around and underneath him. He groaned softly, still feeling mostly detached from the rest of his body. Wanda flew in from the air and cried out in alarm, dropping down to check on him as Sanjay motioned at the blonde with the firearm.

"That thing you are holding; that belongs to Timothy! Drop it this very moment!" he ordered. Remy snorted in disdain, clutching the bubble closer.

"As if! I worked plenty hard to earn this!" he shot back, "I'm not giving it up!" Wanda joined Sanjay in giving the blonde vicious glares.

"That's Timothy's mana! It's what fuels his magic and keeps him alive! You **have** to give that back!" she blurted out. Remy looked affronted by that, tilting his chin up in defiance.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I don't care one whit about this 'mana' nonsense; I only aimed to steal the mongrel's magic and now I have it!" he declared, "He can't do a single little magic trick without it!" Timmy managed to sit up, glaring weakly up at the blonde.

"Hate to admit it... but he's right..." he rasped and both Wanda and Sanjay shot him startled looks, "I didn't have much mana because of the nullifiers I kept jumping past earlier, so this just seemed to have clinched it." He flinched, wrapping his arms around his stomach as though trying to hold himself together. "I barely have enough in me to keep me from turning to dust, let alone cast a single spell." he murmured at last.

"Hah! So I **do** have your power!" Remy crowed in victory, "And none of you can do a thing to me or I'll shatter it and he'll lose his magic for good!"

"Would that really happen?" Sanjay asked Timmy worriedly.

"Nah, don't think so. But it would be a wicked setback on our part." the brunet whispered, "If I could just get my hands on that bubble, I can reabsorb the mana he stole and get back to normal." He glanced up at the Hindu. "Keep him busy. I have a plan." Sanjay grinned at him, a mischievous look on his face.

"Ah, this shall be most enjoyable! I will do my very best for you!" he returned and straightened, aiming the little gun at Remy's feet, "If you wish to prove your superiority, then see if you can avoid these!" And with that he began firing shots to make the blonde dance about in a panic.

"Juandissimo! Help!" Remy shrieked aloud.

* * *

Juandissimo had spent the majority of his 'duel' with Cosmo dodging the blades of air that the other fairy used as weapons. Now panting as he hid behind a nearby light post, the Latino used the brief respite to rethink his plan of attack. Or rather, his lack of one. He hadn't been doing much attacking at all.

"I don't have time to seek you out, Magnifico. Either you emerge from your location of shelter and face me for a quick defeat, or I will have to rain upon this area to flush you out for a much slower one." Cosmo's voice finally sounded out, icy-cold and deadly dark. This was **not** the way Cosmo normally talked; Cosmo didn't use big words or threatened people with harm. And he didn't call him by his last name! Cosmo's name for Juandissimo was that horribly unsexy 'Muscles McGoo'. What was he doing calling him 'Magnifico'?

"This is _muy mal_. Whatever it is that's going on is making him more dangerous than when he is his usual stupid self." Juandissimo muttered to himself and peered around the light post, looking up to see the green-haired fairy hovering high overhead, searching the area for him. The scythe was still in his grip, so there was a good chance that Cosmo wasn't kidding when he said he would unleash more air blades to chase him out of hiding.

"I am tired of this! Reveal yourself and face judgment for violation of the first prerogative!" the fairy godfather snapped, then spun around with a gasp of alarm, "What the-?" Juandissimo blinked as Cosmo shook his head and yelped in fright, "Timmy!"

His voice was normal now. What had happened?

Well, Juandissimo wasn't going to bother with that right now. Cosmo was distracted by his concerns with his godchild, so this was his only chance to end the battle so that he could win Wanda over to his side. Shooting up from the light post, he yelled out in anticipated triumph, turning his rapier to bring the hilt forward. Cosmo spun around in shock just in time for Juandissimo to slam the sword hilt into his stomach. The dapper fairy grunted softly in pain, then went slack, slumping over and letting the black scythe drop out of his grip. Just as he began to fall from the air, the Latino zipped underneath, slinging the limp figure onto one shoulder.

"That was far easier than I thought, though I must thank whatever lucky star had chosen this moment to distract him with his godchild." Juandissimo mused and looked around, puzzled, "However, the undead _muchachito_ is not here. So why would he choose now to worry about him?" He gave a half-shrug, then blinked as he heard the faint yells of his own godchild ringing in his ears. Oh, that's right; fairy godparents had the ability to hear their name being called by their designated godchild. This let them just call out and the godparent would poof in beside them, ready to grant a wish. That must have been what distracted Cosmo.

"Ah, _si_, _si_. Coming already, my little _amigo_. Just let me deal with this..." Juandissimo grumbled, searching around the area for anti-magic traps before shooting down to shove Cosmo against the base of the light post. Whipping out his own wand in place of the rapier, he waved it to summon a length of rope that quickly wrapped around both the post and the unconscious fairy, tying them together. Another wave, this time in the direction of the fallen Windcutter Scythe, and Cosmo's non-magical weapon was quickly destroyed.

"I will return and deal with you once I have tended to Remy." Juandissimo pointed out dryly to the other fairy. He poofed in a mirror and gazed at himself in it, grinning as he preened before it. "And I know that whenever Remy calls for me, your little godchild calls Wanda to come and see me. So! I will be at my most sexy for her and carry her away with me!" he declared as he struck a pose that immediately ripped his shirt to pieces and then was replaced. His name was yelled once again and he rolled his eyes before poofing away, mirror and all.

* * *

With Vicky finally at his side defending him with her twin katanas, A.J. put all his attention on the laptop, jumping to each control unit and pinging it with multiple false nullifier signals to force them into dropping their defenses enough to let Elmer pick them off. They hadn't heard much on the Fenton Phones beyond Chip, Tootie, and Andromeda's yells of fury as they battled toothpaste monsters and the insane dentist duo, Sanjay's laughter over some odd thing, and Chester demanding that Veronica stop whatever it was she was doing. Apollo hadn't made contact since declaring he had too many units tailing him to help Trixie and Cosmo was probably still too distracted by his shiny metal targets to bother calling in. At least Timmy wasn't screaming over the frequency anymore.

"How much longer before this stupid Spire falls?" Vicky shrieked in frustration.

"There are too many control units for me to talk to each one, so I'm putting together a virus to infiltrate the units and cause a loopback error in them! Maybe it'll be enough to make them think they have control of whatever nullifiers they're trying to signal!" the teen genius called back, tapping furiously at the keys.

"Well, hurry it up! I'm not letting some walking pile of blue goo trash my sister while the twerp's sittin' around and twiddlin' his thumbs!" the babysitter snapped.

"Give me another five minutes of coverage!" A.J. cried out and covered his head as a pair of destroyers flew past him, gashes cut into their silvery casing as they sparked and bounced across the concrete. He looked up at the flashing pink eyes of Icky Vicky glaring down at him, and gulped.

"You get two, Nerd Boy. Make 'em count." she growled dangerously and A.J. nodded quickly, turning back to his work and praying that he was fast enough to complete the virus in that time frame.

* * *

Trixie flipped back from another lunge made by Veronica and her spinning pom-pom blades, coming to a halt with arms lifted protectively. The blonde had reclaimed the lost blade soon after intensifying her attacks and now twirled about with them erratically. Trixie was now running short of breath and out of energy. The longer this went on, the chances of her coming out of the battle unscathed dwindled. Why wasn't anyone coming to help her? Didn't Timmy say that he would come to help? Why had he screamed earlier, then stopped? Had something happened to keep him from coming to her rescue?

"Oohhh, I'm so tired..." she moaned softly. Was this it? Was she going to die tonight, at this Spire? She had _Revive_ cast on her, but the two magic-users who could cast it again if she got hurt that bad were already in trouble of their own, so if she got killed, and Veronica got another hit in, then...

"Get away from her, you crazy, wrong-bathroom-using girl!"

Trixie blinked in surprise as Chester McBadbat raced in and slammed into the blonde cheerleader, sending them both tumbling across pavement. He jumped free and took up a fighting stance, glaring down at Veronica as she giggled from her prone position.

"I knew it! I totally knew it!" she laughed and got to her feet, the blades no longer spinning in her hands. She turned to stare at Trixie, wide smile stretching her face into a manic expression. "You never loved Timmy; you liked **this** loser!" Veronica exclaimed, "You took away my Timmy, so I'm gonna take away this guy from you! Then I'll be the new Trixie and Timmy will love only me forever!"

"Chester! Look out!" the Asian screamed out as Veronica snapped the pom-poms to her side, transforming the ribbons once more, this time from blades to ribbon cut streamers that she lashed as whips in the boy's direction. Chester stood his ground, lifting both arms up to let the streamers catch them and wrap themselves a few times. Veronica giggled rapidly and yanked on the handles of her makeshift whips, probably expecting them to slice through the armor and destroy the muscle tissue in his forearms.

Chester didn't budge.

He grinned instead and jerked back on the streamers, snapping them out of her grips and far out of reach. Veronica shrieked in rage and shot forward, hands outstretched as though to rip into him bare-handed. Trixie intercepted the charge and lifted her leg in a powerful kick that sent the cheerleader flying backwards. She landed in a crumpled heap, giggling away until she finally went silent. Trixie huffed breathlessly, dropping to one knee as she stared at her unmoving form while Chester untangled himself from the streamers and tossed them away.

"Is... is she dead?" the Asian whispered in shock.

"Nah, you just knocked her out, is all." Chester replied calmly and walked up to her, holding out his hands to help her up. "Man, you look like hell!" he added in faint surprise, looking her over for the first time since arriving to the rescue, "I didn't think she'd give you that much trouble!"

"She's hopped up on insanity and Starbucks coffee. She'd give **you** trouble if you had to fight her." Trixie returned dryly, accepting the hand up and leaning heavily against him, "Thanks for coming to help me, but wasn't Timmy saying that he would also help?"

"Something happened with him. C'mon, let's go check on our team leader." the Leader of the Others sighed with what sounded vaguely like exasperation but Trixie chalked it off as fatigue. They turned to make their way back to the battlefield... and stopped abruptly as they came face to face with Francis.

"So you two are also part of this." the former bully remarked flatly, hands shoved into his coat pockets. Both teens glared at him, teeth bared in vicious snarls.

"You...!" Chester hissed in barely kept fury.

"You pushed Timmy off the jungle gym!" Trixie snapped, free hand tightening into a fist around the little iron bar in her gauntlet, "You killed the Heart of Dimmsdale!" Francis only lifted an eyebrow at them.

"Did I? The jungle gym spun somehow; I don't think me pushing him could have made it spin. Something else did it." he countered calmly.

"Something made it spin, all right!" the blonde redneck growled, "That stupid little machine buried in the playground! You must have made that thing to kill Timmy!"

"No, I'm pretty sure that I was still very stupid back then. I wouldn't know to design something like a machine to spin a jungle gym. Especially since we were all just kids back then." Francis mused aloud. Trixie shook her head fervently.

"You can't pull that one on us, buster!" she yelled, "A kid could have designed that spinning machine! I saw a kid's drawing that looked just like it once!" Francis seemed to perk in interest.

"Really? Did you now? Can you tell me where? It may prove useful in my simulation." the former bully enthused, pulling his hands free to rub them together excitedly, "Think now, girl! Where did you see a drawing of that machine?" Trixie snorted and threw her hand up in dismissal.

"That's a dumb question. I found it in the Black Hound files at..." She stopped, eyes widening as all color drained from her face, "Oh, God!" Chester looked at her worriedly, grabbing her arms as she stared into the distance.

"Tricks? Trixie! What's wrong?" he cried in alarm, "Where did you see that drawing?" He shook her in a panic as she continued to be unresponsive, staring at him with vacant eyes as her pretty face took on a horrified expression. Shaking at the sight, Chester carefully set her on the ground, then glared over at the former bully. "What the hell did you do to her?" he demanded.

"I did nothing. She's just another hallucination that refuses to leave me properly." Francis returned flatly. The blonde raced at him, fist lifted to strike against him in a rage.

_"Does __**this**__ feel like a hallucination?"_ he shrieked and threw his fist forward, only to have it blocked by Francis closing his own massive hand around it. Startled, Chester blinked at his hand, then up at the larger teen.

"I wouldn't know. You seem to have triggered something. My body doesn't respond to me any longer." Francis remarked and brought his knee up to slam into the other boy before throwing him aside. Chester rolled for a few feet, gasping from both pain and the shock of suddenly being hit like that. The armor had deadened the blow, but it was still powerful enough to knock the wind out of him.

"Wha-? What the hell was that for?" the blonde yelled at the approaching bully.

"Who knows? It might have something to do with that other hallucination I had earlier." Francis remarked idly as he kicked at the smaller teen, sending him sprawling once more. Chester scrambled to his feet, hand coming up to wipe away the bleeding at his mouth. "That one little rich kid... you know him? He showed up with a little flying Mexican, rambled on about things and then vanished." the gray-skinned teen continued as he walked after Chester again.

"Remy? Did he make some kind of wish?" he demanded, dodging a series of punches until he fell for a feint and doubled over as the boy's larger fist slammed into his stomach. He staggered back, wheezing and coughing.

"I do recall him saying something about a wish. He wanted me to fight you, though I told him I wasn't going to be doing anything like that out of memory of the Heart of Dimmsdale." Francis told him, sidestepping a tiger's-paw punch and grabbing Chester by the throat. The blonde clawed at his grip, gasping as he was lifted off the ground and his feet kicked in a futile effort to touch land again.

"Then stop!" Chester choked out weakly, "Stop!"

"And what do you suppose I've been trying to do all this time? I'm not exactly enjoying strangling a figment of my imagination." Francis replied in a faintly irritated tone, "I kind of need those to help me visualize the events of that day." Chester gasped once again, then let his hands drop to his sides and went still. Francis lifted an eyebrow at the action, then released him, watching the blonde collapse before him and remain motionless. "Hmm. That's rather unfortunate." he murmured and lifted a hand to study it objectively, "But it released control of my body to me. Well, I've had enough of this hallucination. I'll be heading home now."

And with that, Francis turned and headed for home, whistling tunelessly as he left behind two crumpled members of Team Turner lying on the pavement.

* * *

"Running out of time, Nerd Boy!" Vicky yelled out as A.J. tapped out the last few lines of code and watched the program compile itself for sending. He breathed a sigh of relief and began opening the ports to grab onto the various Wi-Fi signals.

"I've got it! Here goes!" he exclaimed and sent the virus off into the network. He reached up to tap the Fenton Phones, "Elmer! Let me know if things get easier for you!"

_"Right! Okay, the controllers aren't calling anymore nullifiers to act as shields, and there's more of them that are unprotected!"_ the stocky sniper called back, _"I think we can focus on destroying the controllers now!"_

"You do that! I'm going after my sister!" Vicky snapped, "She's screaming and I didn't cause it, so I'm gonna have to kick **somebody's** ass for that!" She twirled one of her katanas into the air, caught it and raced off, screaming into the air like some enraged dragon who just got a cell phone bill it didn't agree with. A.J. blinked as she ran off, then yelped and snatched up his laser gun, firing at the controllers as they spiralled around the Spire with their 'bodyguards' in search of fairies. The majority of them were beginning to cluster to one side, indicating a clump of 'fairies' over there.

"Sanjay! How are things with Timmy?" he called out.

_"Not very good! Remy has stolen his magic and I am distracting him while Timothy creates a plan to retrieve it!"_ the Hindu returned. The teen genius took on a startled expression. Timmy's magic, stolen? Was that even possible?

"Chester! Can you hurry up with Trixie and get back to shooting units? We need cover fire for Timmy!" he switched his attentions now to the Leader of the Others. No answer. "Chester! Come in! Do you read me?" A.J. strained to hear something, then tapped the Phones again, "Trixie? How about you?"

_"...Black Hound..."_ the Asian whispered weakly. A.J. cocked his head in confusion, then fired off a few more bursts of laser charges before calling her again. This time, she made no response.

_'Not good; we're losing contact with too many members!'_ he thought in growing panic and tapped again, "Apollo! Check on Trixie! Apollo! Come in!" Another tap. "Wanda! I can't get through to Apollo! What was going on? You were with him last!"

_"He said he was taking the units tailing him down to you snipers! Didn't he show up?"_

"No! I never saw him, and now he's not answering me! Chester and Trixie aren't responding either!"

_"Call Cosmo! Tell him to take a look!"_

A.J. tapped the Phones once more and called out for the green-haired fairy. Just like the others, there was no response. He tried to get through to Chip, Tootie and Romi, but their Phones were picking up only screams and the guffawing of the toothpaste monsters; whatever was going on there, it was overwhelming to the little group, and Vicky had yet to arrive.

The Spire had taken more than half of Team Turner down as casualties.

In sudden fury, A.J. threw down his laser gun and turned back to his laptop, typing at the keyboard. Remy's group had completely turned what was supposed to have been a simple attack on Spire Three into a costly affair. The Heart of Dimmsdale, magic-less and weakened; the Leader of the Others, unresponsive; the former Popular, whispering nonsense in a trance before fading; the fairy swordsman, MIA; one of the Banished Fairies, also MIA; Chip, Tootie, Andromeda, all held back by one last wave of creatures commanded by Dr. Bender and Wendell; that was two-thirds of Team Turner!

"If you want to get us that bad, Remy, then be prepared to fight my genius!" A.J. hissed, bringing up his virus draft and reworking its code, "We cut off access of this Spire from the rest of your network, but we didn't cut it off from the controllers yet!" A list of new ID signals scrolled onto his screen and he grinned viciously, picking out several and incorporating them into his virus. "No more playing nice with you tonight, Buxaplenty!" he declared with a mad laugh as the virus recompiled and prepared for upload, "Let's see if your precious Dark Spire can handle an assault _from the inside out_!" And the virus was launched, disguising itself as controller unit signals to gain access to the Spire's control center.

* * *

"Juandissimo, get out here and grant me a wish, dammit!" Remy shrieked and glared as the fairy finally appeared in a burst of violet smoke, posing before a mirror and snapping several shirts again, "Will you pay attention to me for once?"

"Have no fear! The most sexy fairy in the universe is here!" Juandissimo declared and blew himself a kiss before turning to his godchild. "So, what sexy wishes do you have for me to grant, _mi amigo_?" he asked and froze, staring at the bubble of pink that Remy held in his arms as the blonde continued dancing maniacally. He pointed at it shakily. "Remy? _Amigo?_ Where did you get that orb?" Juandissimo asked in a frightened voice, face paling at the sight of it.

"This is the magic that the crystal trap drained from the little mongrel before that blasted Hindu shot it. Which reminds me... I wish that kid ran out of bullets!" Remy yelled, pointing at Sanjay. The fairy waved his wand and Sanjay blinked at his gun, hearing the click of an empty chamber.

"Ah well. It was fun while it lasted." the Hindu sighed wistfully while Timmy tapped at his Fenton Phones, frowning in mild confusion. Remy pointed at the bubble in his arms.

"Next, I wish I had some way of using this thing! How the heck do I use that pesky immortal's magic myself?" he added and Juandissimo gulped fearfully. He examined the bubble and shot Timmy a puzzled expression.

"Ah, well. Let's try..." he murmured and waved his wand again, transforming some of the broken remnants of aionis into a scepter that attached itself to the bubble of glass. Remy held it in his hands, grinning as Sanjay stepped back warily. Wanda glared up at the new staff, then carefully tucked her wand into Timmy's belt, touching the glowing star against his back. She held her Hammer in full view, keeping it free for the sake of protection against the strangely inactive units now buzzing around confusedly.

"Ah, Timmy? Now would be a good time to act on that plan of yours, yes?" Sanjay remarked shakily, "Before he does something to hurt us! I do not think our armors are designed to withstand damage created by your own magic!" The brunet slipped a flash grenade from a pouch on his belt, eyes darting between the Latino fairy, who continued staring at him in disbelief, and Remy, who now wielded his mana and was probably going to try practicing his new 'magic' on them at any moment.

"When I give the signal, run!" he murmured and hurled the grenade at Juandissimo's mirror, "Anti-Wanda! I need your help!"

Remy cried out in astonishment as the mirror shattered, startling Juandissimo and sending him fluttering back to avoid the shards. A blast of pale blue smoke signalled the arrival of the anti-fairy and she giggled as she waved her hand at him.

"Hi, _sunu_!" Anti-Wanda exclaimed in her usual airheaded cheerfulness, "What'cha need, Sugarsnack? More bad luck yummyness?"

"What the hell? An anti-fairy?" Remy cried in alarm.

_"Sunu?"_ Juandissimo echoed in shock, "But why?"

"Anti-Wanda, gather up as many of the anti-fairies as you can that aren't gathering energy for Anti-Cosmo! I want a bad luck bash right here!" Timmy yelled out and turned to Sanjay, who seemed distracted by something being said over the Fenton Phones, "Run!"

"What? Now?" Sanjay asked in surprise and yelped as the brunet grabbed Wanda and tossed her into his arms.

"Yes! Now! Wanda, keep an eye on him for me! The two of you get out of here!" he ordered as he got to his feet, "I think I've siphoned some mana out of the air or something; I've got enough now to cover me so you can go and find out what's going on with the Spire attack!" Wanda flew up and rapped her knuckles on Sanjay's head.

"You heard him! Let's go!" she declared and the Hindu nodded, racing off to get back to his sniping. She turned back to her godchild before giving chase. "When you're done here, run! Get away from the Spire!" she told him and took off before he could even ask what she meant. Anti-Wanda put her fingers to her teeth and whistled shrilly, summoning up a large squad of anti-fairies, all grinning and eagerly awaiting orders. Juandissimo glanced at them, looked towards Wanda, then at Anti-Wanda, then at Timmy before gulping and shooting past the anti-fairies to reach the pink-haired fairy winging away from the group.

"Juandissimo! Get back here!" Remy snapped, then clutched the scepter more firmly, "Bah! No matter! I have your magic, Neogene, and you will **not** have victory tonight!"

"Anti-fairies, the worst bad luck that can happen to Remy is for this battle to be known to the people!" Timmy yelled out, "This is my order! Bring police and cameramen here! Bring witnesses to see what is happening!" The anti-fairies cackled gleefully and rushed away as Remy watched them all fly off in disbelief.

"What? **You're** the one who commands the anti-fairies?" he shrieked, pointing the scepter at the brunet. Anti-Wanda laughed and clapped her hands as she fluttered back to sit on Timmy's shoulder.

"He shore is, Mr. Rich Boy!" she gushed excitedly, "My sweet Anti-Cozzie declared that our little _sunu_ here was our second boss, so what he says goes!" Remy ground his teeth together, glaring at the brunet standing before him.

"How much **more** power do you possess? You were completely on the verge of passing out only moments ago; now you have control of anti-fairies and you've regained your strength!" he snarled and held the scepter threateningly.

"More than you can imagine, Remy." Timmy returned with a dark grin, holding out his hands as black spheres of fire bloomed into existence, "And thanks to Anti-Wanda, I'll be borrowing a little bit of black magic to deal with this mess, and leave you to take the blame when the authorities get here!" The sounds of sirens began filling the air and the brunet's grin widened. "Maybe I don't have to; my anti-fairies work quite fast when it comes to making **you** miserable." Remy scowled and twisted the scepter in his hands.

"Fine! You think you've won tonight, but I assure you that I won't be defeated so easily!" the blonde declared and raced away from him, "I'll gather my troops and come back stronger! Mark my words, mongrel! I **will **get you!" Timmy watched him run off, then snuffed out the black spheres, glaring down at his hands as Anti-Wanda laughed happily.

"You shore showed him who's boss!" she crowed and lifted her wand, "Now to get that lovely black stuff to make Anti-Cozzie all better!" She flew off after Remy in excitement.

"I don't like using black magic. I'm not dark." Timmy muttered, "I refuse to be dark; I'm a Hero!" He listened to the sounds of the sirens a little longer, judged that they would arrive to see the battlefield in just a few minutes, then turned to race back to the Spire and recollect his friends. The tower hadn't fallen so he may as well call it a draw for now and try again some other...

The explosion from the Spire's upper levels took him by surprise, enough to have him trip and land roughly on the pavement. The sirens growing louder behind him were all that he would remember that night before everything went dark.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: This chapter was partially inspired by my at-time obsession with playing Phoenix Wright games. _Objection!_ God I love that. Yeah, a majority of this chapter is filler, but I tried to make it fun filler, and explain what happened at the Spire, since so many things went on at the same time just before, during and after the Spire explosion.

* * *

10

Ivory Tower~

Danielle looked over the battered group that slumped in their respective seats around the conference table, placed her hands on her hips and gave them a faintly disgusted glare.

"When Danny said long ago that the situation in Dimmsdale was weird, I was hoping that he was kidding." she remarked and turned her glowing green gaze on Timmy Turner as he nursed a cup of hot cocoa, a black eye that he refused to heal 'because he deserved it' marring his face. "You should have called for more help, Lover, and not let things get this bad!" she lectured him.

"Don't call me that." the brunet growled. The outsider sighed and floated up into the air, folding her arms over her chest as she shook her head.

"It's because of the current situation that I was even called in by Caleb to get the low-down on what the heck happened last night." Danielle pointed out dryly.

"Yeah? And just who the hell are you?" Vicky growled, arms folded under her bust as she slouched back in her chair. The floating girl flicked her hand through her hair, showing off her shimmering white ponytail as she brought herself up confidently.

"My name is Danielle Phantom, but you can call me Danni, with an 'i'. You could say I'm a cousin of Danny Phantom, the guy who's currently still in ICU recovering from whatever it is Lover did to him." she replied smartly and smirked, "I actually have another title I would like to have added, but I see you have Fenton Phones, which means you have Fenton equipment, and it would be a crime to stuff a figure like mine into a Thermos."

"And why does Caleb want to know about what happened? He wasn't even there; it shouldn't matter to him." A.J. grumbled. Danni's expression slipped into neutral and she held up a remote control, clicking on one of its buttons. The monitor behind her came to life as Chet Ubetcha took the screen.

_"What a startling turn of events, folks! Who knew that our poor little city of Dimmsdale could be besieged by terrorists out to destroy our buildings and sense of security?"_ the dwarfed reporter exclaimed in exaggerated shock and horror, _"Behind me are the remains of what used to be a Buxaplenty Corporation Tower. Just last night, an unknown group of assailants completely demolished this building! Several anonymous tips were sent in to let us and police officials get to the scene of the destruction just as the Tower fell to become the pile of rubble it is this morning!"_ An image bloomed beside him and few members of Team Turner recognized what was shown in the image. _"Police are now trying to identify this strange device that was found in pieces at the scene..."_ Danielle 'Danni' Phantom switched off the monitor as the group glared at it, then returned to being morose.

"That stuff with the broken crystal is what's left of the aionis shipment that was stolen from the Hounder Organization's vaults. They're going to trace the metals back to Caleb and he wants to be prepared to disavow any knowledge of what happened. For that, he needs to **know** what took place. So..." the female halfa remarked flatly, "Care to take it from the top? What happened during the Battle of Spire Three?" The team scowled in unified bitterness over the ordeal. Danni looked around at them all with a frown on her face. "Well, don't you all start talking at once." she muttered sarcastically and pointed at one of them, "We'll start with you. Chester McBadbat, right? What can you remember?"

Chester alternated between looking embarrassed and looking furious, but he squared his shoulders and took a deep breath. A bruise had been on his face similar to Timmy's, but the brunet had given both Chester and Trixie a full heal once he saw them after the battle, then went on to do the same for the rest of the team, skipping himself for reasons that had yet to be explained. He began his account slowly.

* * *

_"I was really out of it for a while 'cause of Francis choking me, but Timmy's _Revive_ spell kicked in and when I looked around, Francis was long gone and Veronica was still out cold on the ground. I got Tricks, who had fainted I guess, and we headed back to the Spire._

_"The control units were all buzzing around everywhere, so I had to shoot them away from me and Tricks with one hand. I thought I saw Elmer shooting down controllers, too, but I'm not sure. There was a lot of stuff going on, and I thought I saw a big flash of red light earlier, but that might have been from something blowing up. I know I **heard** an explosion, but I don't remember exactly when that happened._

_"Just then, A.J. came on the line and told everyone to run and get the heck away from the Spire 'cuz it was gonna self-destruct. So I hefted Tricks up and boosted. A little bit later, I heard some cop cars and then the top of the Spire just went ka-boom! It was pretty wild. I didn't stick around to find out more; I just ran until I got into the alleys and waited there until Timmy gave the all-clear to come back here to the Ivory Tower."_

* * *

"That doesn't tell me much, but it's a start." Danni muttered and blew a puff of air through her bangs. She scanned the group, then motioned towards Sanjay. "How about you? You were mostly conscious through this whole thing. Any ideas on what happened?"

Sanjay looked up at her tiredly, then gave a weak shrug, twisting the frames of his glasses as he stared at the table. His mouth moved but no words came. After a moment, he sighed and started again, this time speaking to be heard.

* * *

_"I, too, had heard the signal to run, but oddly enough, Timmy had made no reaction to the announcement. He told me to run when he signaled the anti-fairies, so I did. I went to go find A.J. and see what he meant by the Spire self-destructing, as we had not completely destroyed all the controllers and no one was enacting the 'multiple targets' plan._

_"When I was only a dozen or so yards from Timmy, the Spire's upper levels exploded. The debris was raining down towards the lot, so I grew worried for Timmy and went back to check on him. That was when I found him lying unconscious on the ground only a little bit away from that child-of-she-dog's crystal trap. Wanda had not appeared, so I felt it safe to assume he was not in true danger. However, I did not want him hurt by the falling debris, so I picked him up and carried him to a nearby alley._

_"I heard some sirens nearby around the time the Spire's control center exploded, but my focus was entirely on getting Timmy to safety! I woke him as gently as I could, and he asked to borrow my Fenton Phones. He gave an all-clear over them and asked that we reunite at the Ivory Tower._

_"He told me to go on without him, as he was going to look for Chip, Tootie and Andromeda. He ran off and I didn't see him again until I got here."_

* * *

"I'm guessing he didn't give you that shiner, huh, Lover?" Danni asked dryly, giving Timmy a faint glare.

"No, he just gave me a couple of slaps to wake me up." Timmy muttered, "And stop calling me that. I told you that already, didn't I?" The phantom sighed and rubbed her head.

"Boy, this is really getting complicated! So far, we know that the Spire was about to self-destruct and A.J. told everyone to get away from it before it blew. Cops started showing up at around the time it went pop, so let's hear from A.J. Ibrahim." she remarked and motioned towards him, "How did you know the Spire was going to blow?" A.J. sat stiffly in his chair, hands clutching his laptop tightly enough to turn his knuckles white.

"I wrote a computer virus that overrode its safety protocols and created a loopback error that overheated the systems and caused the meltdown. It was also designed to permeate the other systems controlled by the Spire Server Control System and backfire, creating the chain reaction of explosions that brought the tower down." he told the halfa, "That's why I told everyone to run."

* * *

_"I had had enough of Remy's stunts, and I knew that his team was the reason I couldn't get a response out of most of Team Turner. So, I put together a virus that would be sent to the Spire Control Center under the guise of a controller unit's signal. The real controllers were all suffering from loopback errors and so weren't sending any signals out to either the units in their squadrons or the Dark Spire itself. The virus must have also mutated along the way, affecting the signals for other types of units instead of just nullifiers. For that reason, the nullifiers, capture units and destroyers all halted their attacks; since they couldn't synchronize with the control units, they couldn't get orders on what to do._

_"When my laptop reported that several of my Trojans had made it into the Spire, I called everyone to get out of the area. I don't know how many of them heard me or not, considering many of our members weren't responding to me, so I broadcasted my call on all frequencies. After that, I collected my equipment and ran._

_"I didn't hear any sirens until after I got into the alleys, and they were pretty loud. I was able to see a few cars show up, and then I heard Timmy give an all-clear. So I headed back to the Ivory Tower. I'm not gonna let Remy have his way if I have the ability to use my skills and talents to mess him up!"_

* * *

"Hey, wait a second. Something's not adding up." Danni muttered as she floated before the group, holding her chin in one hand as she took on a seriously thoughtful look. The team looked at each other, shrugged in confusion and watched the halfa hover back and forth in ghostly pacing.

"Is there something wrong with my account?" A.J. challenged. Danni shook her head and finally narrowed her eyes at Chester.

"No, not yours. It's Chester's testimony. I object to his version of the events." she finally declared. The blonde looked startled, then stood up in defiance.

"What the hell? I told the truth! I ain't no lying scumbag like Mr. Moneybags back there!" he snapped. Danni put her arms akimbo and frowned.

"You said that you heard A.J. make the call to abandon the lot while you were taking Trixie back to the Spire. That means you were awake before he made the call and was at the time trying to raise the missing members of Team Turner!" she pointed out, jabbing her finger in Chester's direction, "So why didn't you respond to him then or at least report in on your condition? Why didn't you tell the group that you were okay?"

Chester blinked at her, rolled his eyes in thought, then rubbed his head bashfully, a wide smile on his face.

"Oh, yeah! About that... I actually forgot there was some other stuff that happened." he chuckled and the team groaned in unison. Danni lifted an eyebrow at him, mouth twisting to one side as she waited for him to continue.

* * *

_"I was going to the Spire with Tricks, right? Actually, I stopped a little bit after I started heading there when I saw Apollo lying on the ground. I totally forgot I had the Fenton Phones because I was worried about the little guy. If I had remembered, I would have called for help, because I couldn't wake him up._

_"Now that I think about it, Apollo's color of magic is red, right? Then the flash of red light might have been from him. I picked him up along with Tricks and went on to the Spire again. When I heard the call to abandon the lot, I ran away with both Tricks and Apollo."_

* * *

Danni leaned back in the air, puzzling over that as the fairies on the table looked at each other. Wanda tilted her head in confusion; Cosmo only shrugged, then winced as the motion aggravated the assorted bandages wrapping his body. Apollo was giving Cosmo strange looks, but said nothing about the account himself.

"There, you see? He forgot he had the Phones on. It's an honest mistake." Timmy put in for his friend. "Not like what happened was his fault. **That** blame lies entirely on me." he added beratingly.

"Stop being so hard on yourself." the halfa murmured, reaching out to him and freezing at the cold glare shot back at her.

"Touch me and I will not be responsible for I may, can, and **will** do to you." he snarled. He turned the glare on his cup of cocoa, "I deserve it; I failed to keep my promises. Do your job and leave me alone." he added dully. Danni pulled back and blinked, a worried expression on her face.

"This is bad." she whispered and turned back to the group, "O-okay then. Chester saw a red light at some point and heard an explosion. Apollo uses red-colored magic; was he responsible for that explosion?" She waved a hand towards the fairy and the little swordsman blinked a few times owlishly before getting the idea that he was supposed to speak. He sighed weakly.

* * *

_"Yeah, that explosion was from me. I was trying to get rid of all the units that were tailing me, and Wanda was helping. But she had orders from Timmy to go back to her at the first possible chance so that she could help distract Remy and Juandissimo. As long as I had the units, she wouldn't be able to do that. So I told her to go ahead and leave, that I would take the group of them down to the snipers._

_"When she left, I flew higher, taking the units as far from battle as I could. I knew there were too many for the snipers to fire down effectively, since all the chaos with Remy's team had split up Team Turner too badly. The only thing I could think of was to try one of those magic attacks that Cosmo had used. That Doom Ribbon thing he did back at Spire Five looked like it could do the trick, so I tried it._

_"I got the ribbon of magic free and it worked fantastically; every trap and unit that was tailing me was utterly destroyed! But I didn't realize just how much magic that attack used up. I thought it wouldn't be too bad, considering how Cosmo used it and was just fine after it. Only, when I used it, it felt like all the magic had been sucked out of me. I tried to get to Trixie, but I was on my last legs. I passed out on the way, and that's all I remember. I didn't wake up until I was here and Cosmo was recharging me with his wand."_

* * *

"You used the Doom Ribbon? **That's** why you were on the verge of turning into dust?" Wanda screamed at the red-haired fairy in a mix of shock and fury, "You idiot! You can't use that! Only Cosmo has the power to use the Doom Ribbon and survive the drain!" Apollo glared back at her coldly.

"I know that now. What interests me is why it is that he has the ability to use such high-level magic attacks and not feel the least bit weakened by it." he pointed out, "What's so special about Cosmo, hmm?" Wanda sat back, paling as she glanced at her husband, who stared vacantly into the distance.

"Nothing! There's nothing special about him, beyond the fact that he makes me laugh and that's why I married him." she replied hurriedly. Apollo frowned and shook his head slightly.

"I don't think so, Mrs. Cosma." he whispered just loud enough for only her to hear, "If the rumor is true about Cosmo Cosma, then how many other rumors concerning him are also true? I'm very interested in validating the truth of the scandal that shook up Fairy World fourteen years ago." Wanda huffed in false bravado.

"There's no truth to it. Cosmo is an idiot, the dumbest fairy in Fairy World, but he's my idiot and I love him with all my heart." she returned, "We're a happily married couple and there's nothing more to it."

"Hey! No whispering here! I need to have all this information straight to send to Caleb!" Danni declared in frustration, "So now we know how Apollo was found and brought back, but A.J. reported losing contact with **two** fairies!" She glared pointedly at Cosmo and Wanda. "Would _someone_ care to report on how Cosmo was found and brought here?" she growled. Wanda glared back and stood up, arms folded up as she assumed a firm, almost defiant stance.

* * *

_"After Timmy told me to leave him and check on the Spire attack while he dealt with Remy with the anti-fairies, I headed off to find Cosmo. A.J. had told me on a private channel that he wasn't getting a response from him, and as his wife I was worried about him. I didn't know I was being followed until Juandissimo Magnifico suddenly showed up in front of me. He demanded to know how Remy got that orb from Timmy._

_"I didn't tell him anything; he's the enemy after all. So I ignored him and pushed on, but then he flew by me and said that he had defeated Cosmo in a duel and that I should go with him as his reward. **That** ticked me off, so I attacked with the Heartache Hammer! Nobody hurts my sweet Cosmo and gets away with it!_

_"The fight lasted only until the Spire's upper levels exploded. Juandissimo suddenly panicked and escaped, probably to find Remy and see if he was all right. I continued searching for Cosmo and found something burning on the ground not too far away. When I landed to check, I discovered that it was the remains of the Windcutter Scythe that was burning. I did some more snooping around and I found Cosmo unconscious nearby, tied up to a light post._

_"One swing of the axe side of the Heartache Hammer and I was able to get Cosmo out of those ropes. I took him to a nearby alley to hide out and help him wake up. When Timmy called for an all-clear to go to the Ivory Tower, I knew he'd be all right, so I left with Cosmo to come here."_

* * *

"Orb? What orb?" Danni asked suddenly, a perplexed look on her face. Wanda and Cosmo looked sidelong at each other, then stared up at her. The halfa frowned as the rest of Team Turner blinked in collective confusion. "Well? What's up with the orb?"

"The orb?" Wanda laughed nervously, "Is that what I said? You know, it's an orb! Kinda round, like a ball. An orb!" Timmy tilted his head, eyebrow lifted as he watched his godmother flounder for an escape.

"Wanda, most of the team already knows about the orb." he pointed out, "You may as well just give them all a briefer on it." Wanda gulped and glanced back at her husband again, before sighing in defeat.

"All right. I'll tell you all about the orb." she groaned softly.

"Good. If Remy has control of the orb, what would it mean for Team Turner?" Danni asked seriously.

* * *

_"The orb that Juandissimo was talking about is a super-condensed form of Timmy's personal mana, complete with his blank mana signature. It was pulled from him using that device in the news. You know? The one with the stolen aionis? With that orb, Remy can use the aionis that was formed into a scepter to channel it and force his own will on it, allowing him to use magic until the orb expires._

_"Timmy's ability to use magic was completely void as long as Remy had that orb, so he couldn't use any spells to fight or anything. Not while Remy had control of Timmy's mana and he hadn't recharged himself with fresh mana. We were in an area full of nullifiers and the Dark Spire was still trying to block all frequencies of magic and mana, so there wasn't enough in the surroundings to help Timmy recover. That's why we hadn't been using magic as much as we normally would have; the Spire's effects were very strong, and whatever spells and magic got used only lasted for a short while._

_"Now that Remy has the orb in his clutches, his threat level is much higher than we originally credited him. He can use magic just like Timmy can! Think of it! A mana manipulator on the side of the enemy! Only Timmy can fight against that, and only if he's fully charged with fresh mana for himself! Otherwise, Remy could beat him with his own magic!"_

* * *

"I object to that testimony!" Sanjay suddenly blurted out and the whole group turned to stare at him in disbelief. The Hindu laughed nervously. "It sounded like fun to say." he explained sheepishly, then took on a stern face, "But I still object! I clearly remember hearing Timmy say that he had recharged some mana almost immediately after Remy stole the orb and I freed him from the draining device. So there **had** to be enough mana in the area to do that."

"There _wasn't_ enough magic to support low-level spells for very long!" Apollo pointed out loudly, "How could there be enough to recharge a high-level user so fast?" Wanda winced visibly at the argument and A.J. stood up to calm them down.

"Hey, hey! There's a way to decide all this for sure!" he told them and the group settled down to listen, "We **do** have a way to detect the amount of magic and mana in any given area. Once we know the level that was present, we'll know if it was enough to recharge Timmy so quickly." Danni blinked in surprise.

"Really? You guys have the technology to do that? I thought Caleb hadn't given you anything of that sort." the halfa remarked in astonishment, "So how can we run the test? Now that the Spire has been destroyed, the level of mana and magic in that area will have already risen since last night." A.J. grinned and shook his head.

"It's not a technology." he corrected, "It's Timmy." All eyes turned to the brunet, who straightened up almost self-consciously, a faint blush on his face. "Timmy has the ability to sense the levels of magic and mana in any area as a scent. We can just ask him what the level was that night and we'll know if there was enough to recharge him." the teen genius remarked confidently.

"So? Was there enough?" Danni asked him and Timmy sighed, shaking his head.

"I sensed the overall health of the mana in the Spire lot, and it was really weak. Like Apollo said, there was barely enough for low-level magic. I was using my personal mana to fuel my own spells because there wasn't enough for all the magic-users to work with." he replied and looked confused, "But I was still able to gather enough mana to call up my Level Two _Bulla Scintillare_, and that requires more than what was already around me and a lot more than what I had in me after Remy drained me with that crystal trap."

"Okay, so there wasn't enough mana and magic in the lot to recharge Timmy fast enough to call up that strong of a spell so soon after his mana was stolen. What could have recharged him in its place?" Danni asked and focused on the pink-haired fairy fidgeting on the table, "I have a feeling Wanda can answer that for us."

Wanda winced again, then sighed and began again.

* * *

_"Okay, you're right. The level of magic in the lot that night was very, very weak, and there wasn't enough mana to recharge Timmy in time to defend against Remy if he tried to use the orb right away. So, I stuck my wand into his belt and forced it to release its supply of magic._

_"Timmy's use of mana is very similar to basic fairy magic, so I knew that his body would begin absorbing the magic from my wand and convert it into blank signature mana, the kind that he needed to survive and used for his own magic. That's why he was able to recover so fast that night. I got the wand back when we reunited here, but I didn't expect to see him with a black eye. He was perfectly fine when I left him, and my Timmy Sense never went off after that."_

* * *

Team Turner buzzed with surprise at the new information and Timmy stared at Wanda in shock. Apollo's face had paled and he held his head in his hands.

"This **can't** be happening! No way, no _way_!" he whimpered to himself.

"Timmy can recharge off of fairy magic? But according to the records in the Archive, fairy magic uses ultra-mana frequencies! Timmy is a human magic-user; he's only able to access normal frequencies of mana!" A.J. exclaimed in disbelief, hands flying up to his cheeks as his eyes went wide.

"But conjuring is a magic that uses ultra-mana, too, right?" Chester protested and held his hands out towards Timmy, "And he's able to make stuff appear out of thin air like it's nobody's business! That's gotta be proof that even humans can use ultra-mana, too!"

"Hey! Everybody, shut up! I can't concentrate!" Danni yelled out and the group settled again, still mumbling to themselves as the halfa rubbed her head in mock pain, "Argh! Okay, let me get this straight. So far, this is what happened; A.J. destroys the Dark Spire with a virus and tells everyone to run away. Chester recovers Apollo and Trixie before the call and runs away with them when he hears it. Sanjay ran off with Timmy, who was recharging his mana with Wanda's wand, and Wanda herself took off with Cosmo after rescuing him without the use of magic." She looked around quickly. "Is that it? That's... three... four, five... six... That accounts for seven members of Team Turner retreating from the battlefield." Danni counted and frowned, "What about the fat kid? Elmer, right?" The russet-haired boy held up his hands and shook his head frantically.

"Oh, no, no, no! Don't look at me! I heard the call to run, so I ran! I didn't stick around to get involved in these messes!" he exclaimed, "If I had other orders from Timmy or Chester, then maybe I'd have more information, but I didn't hear anything from them!"

"Okay, so that's eight members off the field. All that's left is to hear from the group that's caused us the most controversy. Chip Skylark, right?" Danni finally announced, looking straight at the weary singer slumped back in his seat, "Can you tell us what happened during the incident we're calling the Dental Ambush?"

"Do I have to?" Chip returned tiredly. The most recent member of the team had returned to the Ivory Tower covered in toothpaste and bruises. The androids manning the Tower had helped him get cleaned up and Timmy provided the healing magic to get rid of the bruising, but nothing seemed to break him out of his exhausted funk.

"You were there the longest since you were the reason for the ambush. You're our only lead right now." A.J. pointed out to him. Chip folded his arms over his chest and sighed.

"Fine." he relented.

* * *

_"I was doing fine in leading the units around the Spire, like we planned. Then, all of a sudden, those crazy dentists jumped in out of nowhere with a whole mob of toothpaste monsters! They sicced their goons on me, so I had no choice but to start fighting them off with the Dental Laser and the flash grenades that were in the utility belt. I thought I'd be done for, there were so many, but then Tootie showed up and dug into 'em with her spells. She used one that she called _Aqua Edge_ that dissolved lots of monsters. A little bit after that, her little flying friend showed up and helped out by popping lids off of fire hydrants to wash away more toothpaste monsters._

_"The whole fight was going pretty dang good for us, but then I noticed that Tootie wasn't using her magic as often as she used to. Like she was running out of the stuff that makes her magic work. You guys call it mana, right? And you said that it was really weak in the area that night, right? Maybe that's why she wasn't casting it so much anymore. Dr. Bender and Wendell caught onto that and rushed right past her, straight at me! God, I can still see their grins and those pliers in their hands... ugh!_

_"But then, I heard Tootie yell out a wish and her floating friend waved her little wand. Next thing I know, I'm wearing this weird metal gag that completely blocked off my mouth so I couldn't fire the Dental Laser anymore. I still don't know why the heck she did that. Then Icky Vicky here showed up and started yelling her head off about the monsters being in her way._

_"I tried to pull the mask off so I could help Tootie clear away the monsters, but I couldn't get the damn thing loose. One of the monsters managed to grab on to me and held me down so Bender could have a crack at it. No go for him either. He said that he'd get my teeth one way or another, then I felt something hit me in the head and that's all I remember. It all went black after that."_

* * *

"What the heck? Is **that** what happened?" Timmy exclaimed, shooting up out of his seat, "I gave her the mana crystals to keep recharging her supply of mana for use in spell-casting! Why didn't she use them to cast more spells?" Chip held up his hands in a helpless shrug.

"I... I don't know! I didn't even know she had something like that!" he cried, "Maybe she forgot? If she remembered that she had them, none of this would have happened!" Danni rapped her fist against the table for attention.

"Hey! Quiet down!" she declared and pointed at the singer, "You just said that you had on a mask that refused to come off. Yet, everyone can see you now and what we see is a distinct lack of mask!" The group looked over at Chip, who put his hand up to his mouth in confusion. "How did the mask come off if you couldn't do it and neither could those dentists? Did Tootie's wish say how the mask could come off? Do you remember what she specified in that wish?" the halfa questioned, "Maybe you should revise your testimony, Mr. Skylark." Chip puzzled it over for a moment, then nodded slowly.

"Now that I think about it, I **do** remember some other things. It's all a little fuzzy, but there was definitely more that happened." he agreed.

* * *

_"The wish that Tootie made when she was yelling was really fast, but really specific, in kind of a vague way. But I guess her floating friend understood the gist of it, 'cause it all worked out. I think her exact words were 'I wish there was a seal over Chip's mouth that unlocks only when the one I love most touches it'. I guess she did it to protect my teeth from being stolen, because with the way things were going I would have lost them to those crazy dentists in no time._

_"I tried to pull off the gag only because it was the first thing that came to me in the battle. The Dental Laser was my best weapon and now it was gone. Then Bender tried it and he couldn't get it off. Wendell said not to worry because he heard the wish and added that Tootie was talking about himself. So he tried to open the seal, too. But that didn't work either. That's when Bender said he'd get my teeth one way or another._

_"Now that I think about it some more, he might have also said that the way he'd get it was to make Wendell the one Tootie loved most. Then the seal would **have** to break under Wendell's touch and they'd be able to get my teeth! Then I got that hit to the head and everything went dark."_

* * *

"So the seal would only break under the touch of the one Tootie loved most." Danni grumbled jealously, "How helpful." She shot Timmy a glare as she folded her arms over her chest. The brunet burned a bright red and slouched in his seat as the rest of the group grinned knowingly at him.

"I didn't know a wish was involved in that. I just thought it was something Remy did, so I put my hand on it to try dissolving the lock and it just popped open right there." Timmy mumbled bashfully and shook his head. "I... I don't deserve it. Not after what I've done."

"Darn straight, you don't!" Danni declared, "And she doesn't deserve **you** either! You're not even alike!"

"Will you stop that already?" Timmy sighed in exasperation, glaring up at her from his slouched position.

"Hey, Vicky, you said you were going to check on Chip and Tootie, right? And Chip said you showed up at about the time Tootie made her wish." A.J. pointed out, "Can you fill in what happened after he passed out?" All eyes turned toward the former babysitter as she sat rigidly in her chair. She'd been the most quiet the entire meeting and fairly simmered with barely contained fury. Her own eyes had been focused on Timmy the whole time, as if all the rage she had inside was trying to force its way out through the pink irises and fire on him in some form of laser.

"You want my input on this pile of crap that was our mission? Fine, I'll give it to you." Vicky growled, "Then you'll see why the twerp had it coming!"

* * *

_"Yeah, I showed up when Tootie was making her wish, but I didn't hear what it was she said. Well, I did, but I didn't care. I just needed to hear her voice so that I could figure out where the hell she was in all that mess. I cut through as many of those goopy goons with my katanas as I could to reach her and that's when I saw that chubby little dweeb trying to pull some mask off of the fallen idol here. You know the one, that freak that keeps trying to hit on my little sister. Chip here was flailing around like crazy, trying to get away from them and the slimeball holding him down._

_"I didn't hear what Bender was saying, just saw him make some motion with his hand and then the goon whapped Chip on the head and knocked him out. After that, it picked him up and followed Bender and Wendell. The two of them were rushing right after Tootie!_

_"I followed after them as fast as I could, dodging toothpaste goons until I got to the one holding Chip. I lay into that thing until it dropped him and then I made my way back to find Tootie. I heard her cry out just as I reached where she was fighting and that's when I saw one of those creeps grab her at Wendell's orders! Her flying toy flew in to help out. She gets in a couple of decent hits, trying to save her, but then she gets nabbed by the same goon._

_"I jumped in, pissed as all hell and ready to kick some ass. But before I could make a move to save her, something blasted me in the gut. I saw a flash of pink and gold and there was all this light that was blinding. I faintly heard a kid's voice yell for a retreat, and then nothing."_

* * *

"You saw a pink and gold flash of light when something hit you?" Danni questioned in confusion. Vicky nodded curtly as Sanjay twisted the frames of his glasses thoughtfully.

"The blow she felt may have been from the stolen mana orb that Remy now wields. It is possible that he learned how to do simple manipulations with it in the time it took him to reach Miss Vicky and Chip Skylark." he remarked slowly, "It would also explain the voice she heard." The girl halfa lifted her fingers to her chin in consideration, then shook her head.

"I don't think so. I've seen the projected course of Lover-Boy's magical power. He's barely capable of pulling off Level Four Hero-Class damage." she declared bluntly, "That means power capable of harming people within close proximity of himself. Vicky and Chip were both too far away from Timmy for his magic to do anything to Vicky." The carrot-top glared at her as Chester scowled in irritation.

"You callin' my team liars?" he argued. Danni waved him off.

"'**Your**' team? I was under the impression that this was Team **Turner**, not Team **McBadbat**." she retorted, then managed a small, smug grin, "Although you might have a point in renaming the team once all this Dark Spire stuff is done." The group looked baffled and she blinked in confusion. "You mean... he didn't tell you?"' she asked in a puzzled tone and folded her arms over her chest as she muttered faintly to herself, "And here I was thinking I could invite you to the ceremony..."

"The point isn't that Remy couldn't hit Vicky with magic because Timmy was out of range!" A.J. declared savagely, "The point is that Remy could hit her because **Remy** was in range!" He pointed at the young immortal to emphasize his words. "Remy stole Timmy's mana and is using it himself, with all the capabilities Timmy possesses under his control!" Danni rolled her eyes and shook her head in exasperation.

"And I still think there's no big deal in it. Timmy is a Level Four Hero, barely. Physically, he can cause good damage to small-scale properties and appliances, and his magic can harm people at a range of fifty to a hundred feet away, 'cuz his power weakens as it gets farther away." she corrected them sternly, one fist on her hip as she wagged her finger at the group of young people. "By comparison, I'm a Level Three Hero; physically, I can cause great amounts of damage to large properties and my ecto powers can harm people within a range of five hundred feet (not that I would want to hurt people). If I had Ghostly Wail, like Cousin Danny, I'd move up a rank."

"Your information is wrong, then." Sanjay retorted haughtily, "Timmy is capable of much more damage." Danni slammed her hand down on the table, startling the group as her eyes blazed yellow-green.

"Caleb's data is accurate within a two percent margin of error!" she yelled, "You can't argue against that kind of data!"

"You can if the projection is more than three months old and doesn't include his recent change in spell-casting!" A.J. argued back. Danni jerked back in shock, floating out of reach in reaction.

"A change in his casting?" she echoed and looked at the brunet, "Lover? What's going on?"

"Stop calling me that." Timmy grumbled and shrugged, "Those projections were based on me using elven spells, but it turns out that I'm a mana manipulator, so my power is based on my imagination."

"Then..."

"Yeah; Caleb's original projections no longer apply to me. I might even need to be reclassified." Timmy affirmed.

"But... " Danni stammered, then glared at Vicky, "If that's the case, then how is she still alive? If your magical strength is beyond Level Four, and she got blasted in the gut at close range, she should be dead right now!" Vicky snorted and lifted her arm, showing the black wristband that decorated it, the same as the rest of the team sported once Timmy explained how the runes worked in putting the armor away.

"Magitech armor. This thing saved me from turning into Swiss cheese." the evil babysitter remarked with a twisted grin, "Bet it stops ecto junk too."

**"You wanna test that little bet?"** the ghost girl snarled, a ball of ectoplasm blooming into fiery existence in her hand. In a flash, a bubble of crystalline water spread over her, sealing Danni Phantom within the shield. "What the-?" she cried in alarm and the budding Ghost Ray faded in her confusion as she reached out to touch the shield. She pressed against it, then again as her hand turned somewhat translucent. She looked shocked again. "What? But Caleb programmed the Ghost Shield to ignore me!" Danni cried, "Why can't I phase through?"

"That's not a Ghost Shield. That's _Boltzman's Shield_." A.J. corrected, "Thanks, Timmy." All eyes turned to the brunet as he gazed into the prism hovering over the tip of his index finger.

"That shield is made of pure mana. Ectoplasm can't affect it, so ghost powers are useless against it." Timmy murmured calmly, still watching the crystal spinning slowly over his finger. "Don't pick fights with my friends, okay?" Danni nodded, eyes wide, and Timmy breathed out over the prism, letting both it and the bubble vanish. The room fell into silence as he sat back and folded his arms over his chest. "I think it's time for my view of what happened." he added quietly.

* * *

_"Sanjay woke me up and I found myself in an alley. I had no idea what had happened since my Fenton Phones were damaged during my run-in with Remy. That's why I had no clue that A.J. was about to blow the Spire; in fact, I was beginning to think we had failed the mission. I asked Sanjay for his Phones, gave an all-clear to get everyone out of the area since I had summoned the cops with the anti-fairies, and headed out to check on Tootie's group._

_"I wanted to be sure that they had gotten the call and I was kind of worried about them, so I ran for the last place I remembered Tootie heading towards. When I got there, Chip was lying unconscious in a melted pile of toothpaste with something metal on his face. Vicky was in the same shape, with a weird burn on her stomach. I would have healed both of them there, but I hadn't recovered enough mana yet for two doses of _Cure_, so I went to see if I could get that thing off of Chip._

_"Vicky woke up about the time I touched the mask and started looking around the area. She was calling Tootie's name and sounding panicky, so I went to see what she was doing. I told her to keep it down since there were other people around and that's when she spun around and slugged me._

_"I fell back, shocked that she hit me, and she started screaming at me that this was my fault and that I broke my promise, that this would have never happened if I had just stayed dead._

_"I don't remember what I said, but Vicky's answer made me feel faint again. Like I lost touch with reality. And she's right. This is all my fault; I should never have gotten her or any of you involved."_

* * *

"I've decided I don't like you very much." Danni growled at Vicky, who only smirked back at her cruelly.

"Well, we're not exactly throwing a party at your presence, either." A.J. grumbled, slouching back in his chair as he looked over at Timmy. "So that's what happened, huh? I get it now."

"Well, I still don't, and I have to make a full report of all this to Caleb." the girl halfa sighed and turned back to the brunet with a soft look, "What did she say after she hit you? Do you remember?" Timmy blinked, then looked away almost tearfully.

"How could I forget? She... she told me... that Tootie was gone, and it's all my fault." he replied haltingly, "I sent her out there alone and she was captured along with Romi as a result." Danni stared at him, stunned, one hand flying up to her mouth to hold back a gasp.

"I wondered why she and her fairy were missing from the room, but I thought they were in the infirmary with that Trixie girl." she murmured.

"Trixie is recovering from the shock of whatever it was Francis told her." Chester reported softly, "We can ask what happened when she wakes up. Tootie and Romi are being held prisoner but we don't know where."

"And that's why you refused to heal yourself?" the half-ghost asked somberly, "Because you feel like it's your responsibility?"

"I **know** I'm responsible for everyone here, for anyone who comes into Dimmsdale to help me and for the people who live here." Timmy returned, "It wouldn't be fair if I came out of this mission unhurt while Tootie and Romi could be hurt out there, somewhere."

The gloomy mood that Danielle had felt when she first floated into the room returned almost full force and with it came the sinking realization that Dimmsdale's situation was far more dire than originally thought. Something was very wrong if the darkness in the city was of such magnitude that even Caleb was unable to do much in the area to help. She watched with a heavy heart as the team began leaving the room, murmuring soft promises to one another and especially to Vicky that they will rescue Tootie and her fairy somehow, the young immortal trailing behind in silence. Danni chewed on the thumb-tip of her glove for a moment as her thoughts raced, then quickly flew out to find the brunet.

"Timmy! Wait!" she cried and spun around him to force him to stop. He gave her an irritated look, placing one hand on his hip impatiently.

"What **now**? We told you everything that happened last night!" he exclaimed.

"I have another thing I have to do while I'm here. Caleb asked me to reclaim the missing aionis the police collected, just in case they haven't run a check on it yet." Danni told him, then shook her head, "But that's **my** errand. Anyway, I wanted to say... well, why not ask the other Heroes to deal with this?" At Timmy's baffled expression, she pressed on, "Look, you went through the training and everything, but your team is **obviously** not up to snuff and there's like some mondo huge conspiracy or something going on here, 'cuz you're screwing up royally before you gain any kind of ground."

_"What?" _Timmy snapped angrily as his godparents glared at her. She went on, flinching at his scowl.

"I'm just saying that maybe you should let go of this place now; let one of the Level Two Heroes handle it for you." she urged, "Heck, I've got Buttercup's cell number on speed dial! I can call in a favor, she'll pull strings with her sisters, and Dimmsdale's Spire-free before bedtime!" Timmy's mood wasn't improving.

"I am **not** letting a bunch of third-graders tear my city apart just to 'save the day' by some stupid curfew!" he growled.

"Well, what about one of the League members? There's lots there that are at least Level One; they can fix things, no problem! Pleeease!" Danni wheedled, putting on her cutest puppy-eyed look, "Then you can come to Amity Park, like you promised!"

"Amity Park? Why the heck would I...?" Timmy grumbled absently before catching himself, eyes blinking owlishly until things fell into place. "Danni! Is that why you've been calling me that stupid name all this time?" he snapped, thankful that he'd gone the opposite way from the Others, up the Tower towards the infirmary. The halfa huffed and floated before him with arms folded over her chest.

"You promised, Lover, and I'm holding you to it, come Hell or Oblivion." she pointed out stubbornly, "But... fine. What-**ever**! Go ahead and play Hero to this stupid town. When you finally see that I was right, I'll be waiting to say I told you so!" With that, she did a quick pirouette, vanishing from sight with her own ghostly teleportation. Timmy stared at the empty space, then sighed tiredly, placing a hand over his injured eye to try to quell the pain.

"It just doesn't get any easier, does it, Wanda?" he asked.

"You probably shouldn't have made that promise to her that day." the pink-haired fairy murmured. The brunet glared up at her as he continued towards the elevator.

"Wanda, **you** were the one who told me to go ahead and do it! Don't try to pin all this on me!" he argued hotly, only to be met by a shameless attempt at an innocent smile by his fairy godmother.

* * *

Buxaplenty Manor~

"Things did **not** go according to plan, Crocker." Remy growled over the web conference link, "I was under the impression that your updated Squadron Control Unit programming would make short work of that miserable group!"

_"I didn't take into account that they had additional resources at their disposal."_ Crocker answered dryly, drafting pencil skritching away at a pad of paper, _"Never mind. That Spire was already a loss since they cut the network access, and I'm designing a new form of control unit."_ He turned the pad so as to show to the boy millionaire. _"I call it the Advance Class Squadron Control Unit."_

It looked dangerous. That was Remy's first thought upon seeing the rough sketch. It looked lethal and expensive and beautifully dangerous. Like a pudgy stealth bomber, it was solid black with sweeping wings and an antenna that nearly lay flush to its body. A pair of small laser cannons were mounted to its undercarriage, flanking the round core that was obviously the Control Unit from the previous generation, only repainted a jet black color.

The lasers were new. Remy couldn't recall Crocker ever designing anything that would be lethal at a distance, or even lethal at all. The recent upgrades of the Destroyer-class units, the ground-bound Smashers and the aerial Mayhems, had been deemed 'not cuddle-worthy' due to the ungodly number of sharp objects attached to them, but this was a huge step up. These were the closest he had gotten to creating robotic snipers.

"Sniper-class. I like the sound of it." Remy mused with a faintly vicious grin as his fingers ran delicately over the glowing orb just out of Crocker's view, "Build them, and make sure they converge on their targets this time. I don't want them scattering themselves about chasing after a myriad of urchins in jumpsuits!" The retired teacher lifted an eyebrow at him, turning the pad back to resume sketching.

_"So that's what's been going on, hmm. The lasers will be tuned to fire on anything that doesn't bear the DNA trace I have on file, and each Sniper unit will carry its own nullifier."_ he mused aloud, _"This way, each unit will have the best qualities of the previous three units, Satellite, Mayhem, and Squadron Control. The Sweeper units will be upgraded for a more stream-lined design, like the Sniper class and will be flanked by these new units."_

"And what will happen to the obsolete units?" Remy asked, eyebrow lifted. Crocker shrugged.

_"I'll recall them to Master Control. I can use them in some... experiments..."_ he replied and smiled so widely and gleefully that the blonde found himself shuddering in subconscious revulsion. _"Now, if you don't mind, I have work to do. There's someone out there that I very much want to get my hands on, so there's much to be done before everything falls into place."_ With that, Crocker reached out and clicked on something, killing the connection between him and Remy.

For a few minutes, there was nothing. Then a blast of pink and gold light erupted and reduced the flat-screen monitor to molten plastic and silicon. Remy glared at the mess on his desk, free hand still smoking faintly with pink mana rising from his fingertips, the aionis scepter gripped tightly in the other hand. Juandissimo jumped at the noise and glanced over at him warily.

"You are getting more adept at using that thing, _mi amigo_. However, I still think using wishes is much easier on both of us." he pointed out carefully. Remy snorted disdainfully as he returned to drumming his fingers against the orb.

"The only reason you say that is because you're afraid of the heights I'll achieve now that I have Timothy's power in my hands." the blonde remarked haughtily, "However, I don't want to waste it on petty things, like rebuilding that monitor. So, I wish I had a new, top-of-the-line flat-screen monitor."

"You wish it because you can't conjure one yourself, _amigo_." Juandissimo muttered under his breath as he waved his wand to grant the wish.

Satisfied with his new monitor, Remy then went on to examine the morning's news, curling a lip in annoyance as he watched Chet Ubetcha spill to the city the fact that his Spires were indeed being destroyed. He chuckled briefly at the mention of the 'terrorists' and resolved to make some kind of televised appearance to assure the city of its safety and perhaps earn a few points towards his own goal if he can sway their loyalties to him in exchange for security. For now, there was the matter of dealing with Dr. Bender and Wendell.

The battle over Spire Three had ended with the destruction of the tower, yet there was still some victories to be had. First, the possession of Timothy's magic, sealed in the form of an orb that now decorated his silvery scepter. With this much power, Remy could rule the city with an iron fist and be unafraid of his bothersome benefactors when next they came for their little updates. He'd had some trouble at first with using it but by the time he reached the battlefield with Bender and Wendell, he'd discovered that simply thinking of the effect he wanted while his hand was in contact with the orb allowed him to pull it off once he swept his hand from the scepter. Thus his first haphazard shot at the carrot-top babysitter that sent her flying some twenty feet or so away was considered a huge success.

Never mind that his own fairy godfather kept staring at the orb like it defied all logic.

Next was the happy capture of that Goth girl and her fairy godmother. True, the main target had been Chip Skylark, but with the time constraints placed on them by incoming constables (no thanks to that blasted mongrel) they would have to make do with the girls. And then the two dentists had to raise a ruckus over the fact that he took both girls as his own hostages. Really, if they had just done their jobs properly the first time around, they would have had Chip's teeth and not be so bloody annoying to him later in life. Ah well.

And just to be sure there would be no heroic rescues or some other nonsense, Remy would soon be locking both the Goth and her fairy godmother away in a nice location, fully protected from that blasted not-so-immortal urchin and his band of reject friends. Granted, Remy would have taken the fairy for himself, but really now. He had Timothy's magic in his hands; what use was another rebellious fairy to him?

Remy huffed as he adjusted his tie with one hand, refusing to let go of his new toy for even one moment, then made his way down to the foyer to meet with the two dentists and give them a few good reasons as to why they couldn't lay hands on that Tootie girl. Hopefully, the destruction would be kept to a minimum.

* * *

In the foyer, Dr. Bender waited impatiently for their millionaire backer to finally arrive and answer to him about last night's fiasco. Things didn't go according to plan at all! They were **supposed** to have laid claim to Chip Skylark's perfect teeth and they didn't. They were **supposed** to be able to get to him unhindered and they didn't. They were **supposed** to kidnap Tootie to get her to fall in love with Wendell so the wish could be broken by his touch and they didn't. Just one huge disappointment over all and they were now going to demand that the girl be returned to them or hell was gonna break loose.

"But Father With the Most Perfect Teeth Ever, how are we going to make Remy give us back my future girlfriend?" Wendell questioned with the faintest trace of doubt and panic, eyes darting back and forth from the door to the stairs. Dr. Bender huffed and continued tapping his foot against the floor.

"By telling him that if he doesn't cough her up, we'll be ripping his teeth out just like everyone else!" the dentist declared.

"You'll be doing no such thing, good doctor." Remy's voice called out in sneering confidence as the blonde descended from the upper floors, stopping at the top of the stairs that led down into the foyer. Wendell swallowed hard, tightening hands into fists as he watched the other boy run his fingers over the glowing orb on his scepter. He'd seen him use it the night before, sending out a wicked-looking blast that threw Vicky for a loop. Whatever it was, it was scary and he didn't want it anywhere near him.

"Your 'Big, Perfect Plan' was a a total wash, brat!" Bender accused, wagging his finger at the boy in every parent's default manner of dealing with the younger generation. Remy's eyes narrowed at the gesture as the dentist went on. "Your tower got blown away, we didn't get Chip Skylark's teeth, and you went and took **our** hostage! Give us back the girl or you'll be having an early appointment!"

It was probably the way Remy's fingers flicked against the glass sphere that gave Wendell the warning, but it was enough to make him dive for cover when the boy millionaire suddenly swept his hand forward from the scepter, firing a blast of gold that sent him and his father skittering across the marble floor. Dust and debris kicked up from the blast rained down on them and Bender scrambled to get to his feet and find an escape. Wendell tried his best to make himself small and unassuming, and possibly a harder target to hit.

"The little Goth twit is my ticket to ensuring that blasted mongrel stays his hand at last!" Remy raged at them, hand smoking from wielding his new power, "You two utter failures will go right back to your bloody office and continue guarding the sewer system to defend what remains of the Spire Network!" Another swipe and he grinned at the two cowering before him as they watched the floor actually catch fire and dance with golden flames. "And if I catch wind that you've spoken a breath of this to the media, you won't like what will happen to you. And I can assure you... it will be a far worse fate than being turned into mimes!" the blonde declared and threw another blast down at them, "Now get out!"

The dentists did not need to be told twice about that.

* * *

Francis blinked up at his psychiatrist again, dully watching as the man rolled his eyes as he always did whenever he came to do his court-appointed sessions. It was routine and, though it had been an annoyance when they first started, the sessions just wouldn't seem right anymore if the man didn't do that eye-roll. Thus, Francis would always stay unresponsive to the psychiatrist's first questions to ensure he got that eye-roll, then proceed to report his findings.

"And what did you discover today, Francis?" the man asked flatly, sitting back on the couch as he tapped his pen against his clipboard.

"I've gained new information on the cause of Timmy Turner's death." Francis began simply, picking up the cup of coffee his father made for him before the brute of a man returned to punching something in some unseen room of the house, "The jungle gym had been attached to some sort of mechanical device that was designed for the specific purpose of turning the construct in synchronization with Turner's fall. Thus, aligning the bar with his neck that would cause the fatal accident."

"Uh huh." the psychiatrist murmured, having long ago decided to just tune out whatever was being told to him. After all, he was in the presence of the one who stole away the Heart; who wouldn't want to just ignore him in favor of wallowing in personal misery?

Francis sipped at the coffee before setting it down and pressing his fingertips together thoughtfully. He'd gathered a lot of information, but he was having just a little trouble processing it all.

"The device that was created to turn the jungle gym seems to have been designed by a child, like the Tang girl said last night at the base of the Spire that was destroyed. The Black Hound files must hold the secret to the identity of the designer of that device." he mused aloud, "I don't have access to those files, but it seems like Trixie Tang does. And she has been in the company of the Others lately, so suffice to say you can trace a connection between her and that other boy that's joined their ranks recently."

"Yeah." the psychiatrist parroted, scoring a third win in solo Tic-Tac-Toe. The former bully sat before him, now musing silently to himself, then speaking again. This time, it was slow and careful, as though he were picking his way carefully through some subject matter.

"Two people saw my recreation of the jungle gym and reacted with something other than anger or sorrow. That first boy saw it and panicked, freezing in place as if facing some horrific monstrosity. Remy saw it and tried to ignore it, tried to distance himself from it. Why would those two react so differently?" he wondered aloud, then shot a look at his psychiatrist, "You haven't listened at all to anything I've said, have you?"

"Sure, just take it day by day. Same as the rest of us. You are not alone in this." the man recited, filling in the blanks of a crossword puzzle. Francis frowned and shook his head.

This man was utterly useless and clearly in need of psychiatric help.

* * *

Ivory Tower, Infirmary~

The soft beeping of machines was both comforting and distressing. Mint Adnade continued her care of Anti-Cosmo, smiling gently at each group of anti-fairies that flew in and deposited life-giving energy to their fallen leader. In another bed, Trixie Tang lay in quiet slumber, resting and recovering from what had happened at the Spire battle while being tended to by Raine Sage. Chester sat by her, looking as if the weight of the whole thing had dropped onto him and was refusing to slide off.

Timmy stood in the doorway, surprised to see him there, before making his way over to join him. The fairies fluttered from him to see to their respective opposites; Wanda winging over to see how Anti-Wanda was holding up, and Cosmo sitting, Indian-fashion, at the foot of Anti-Cosmo's bed, watching him with a strange expression that wasn't quite anger and wasn't quite interest. Progress on the anti-fairy was going well. He seemed to be getting stronger, but it would take some time before he woke up.

"Hey, you okay?" the brunet murmured in concern as he sat by his second-in-command. Chester blinked, as though caught unawares that someone else had entered and spoken to him.

"Huh? Uh, yeah." he muttered offhandedly once he registered Timmy sitting by him, "I'm fine. More worried about Tricks and Toots really." Timmy winced slightly at their names and sighed, looking over at the sleeping Asian. "She was really out of it when Francis talked to us." the blonde went on, "I just know he did something to her!"

"Why would Francis even be at the Spire last night?" Timmy wondered aloud, "He's under house arrest; if he left at any time, the police would know about it for sure."

"Probably because of Remy's wishin' stuff again. He met with Francis at one point. Said so himself." Chester replied absently, watching Raine study the machines with her usual fascinated expression. He glanced over at brunet and frowned. "You oughtta heal that bruise on your face, Timmy. Doesn't look good on you at all and hell if it doesn't look suspicious to the cops." he added. When the brunet made no motion to do so, the blonde sighed and shrugged. "Fine." he remarked, "Hey, Ms. Sage! Heal my buddy here, will ya?"

"What the-?" Timmy blurted in alarm as Raine turned with a grin and held out her staff.

_"Mana around us, mend this broken form! Cure!"_ the robotic half-elf exclaimed and the light of the spell melted into the brunet's body, erasing the blackened bruise from his face. Timmy scowled and slouched back in his seat, arms folded over his chest in a huff.

"Thanks." he growled sarcastically, "Ruin it for me, why don't'cha?"

"Stop acting like some angsty hero and get it together, man." Chester pointed out, "We gotta figure out where Toots is so we can stage a rescue!" He scratched his head, then blinked as his eyes fell on the dulling white band of the Adventurer's Map Timmy wore. "Hey, that thing can find fairies, right? And Romi got kidnapped along with Toots, right?" he remarked, pointing at the computer. Timmy looked at it, lifting his arm, then nodded. "Well, why not try looking for Romi using that thing? Then maybe we can find Toots with it, too!"

"I tried that already. Last night." Timmy sighed, "Look." He held his arm before him and cleared his throat. "Fairy wand locator. Locate subject, Andromeda. Active Mode scan." he ordered and both boys watched as the holographic map bloomed into the air and the words _'Subject not found'_ scrolled across the screen after a few minutes. "Switch to Passive Mode. Locate subject, Andromeda." Timmy gave another command and the computer tried again. This time, it reported that there was too much interference by nullifiers to pinpoint the wand's location. "See? Dead ends." the brunet sighed, then flinched, "Bad choice of words."

"Duh." Chester agreed and sat back in thought, "Okay, so we know that she was with Chip, Dr. Bender and Wendell when she disappeared. And Vicky too. Chip and Vicky got knocked out, so that leaves the crazy dentists and Remy." He scratched his head again. "One of them had to have kidnapped Toots, but which one?"

"We could check them both out, but first we have to hide the fact that Trixie's here and Tootie's missing from both their parents." Timmy sighed, "The Tangs won't be happy to know their daughter is suffering from shock and the Bradleys could be held off from being too curious if Vicky just tells them Tootie is having a sleep-over or something." Chester shrugged as he picked up the remote control on Trixie's bedside table and flicked on the television screen mounted on the wall.

"Let's rest a bit more before we start giving them both hard times. Won't be doing Toots and Romi any good if we're so weak from last night that we get taken out today." he remarked, "Halloween's coming up in a few days, right? We can use that to scare the crap outta them and tell us where they are." Timmy gave him a disapproving glare, shaking his head.

"I don't want to have them be prisoners at all, way less for a few days. Do they even have food and water?" he questioned and glanced up at the clock, "It's almost time for the news at noon. Think they're gonna put more heat on Remy 'cuz of the Spires?" Chester sighed and continued flicking through channels.

"I'm worried about them too, but I'm trying to keep myself together so I can figure out what to do. I want to go racing out there and start busting heads until I get them back, but that's not gonna help us or them." he pointed out, "And she's got some rations in her utility belt. A.J. has us covered when it comes to that. She's a survivor, Timmy; we all are. We're not gonna die so easy when we're trying to save Dimmsdale and the world."

The brunet fell silent at that and slumped back against his chair again. He brought up the map of Dimmsdale on his computer, gazing at the zones of gold that were overtaking the zones of gray and black. He studied the spot where the last Spire had once stood, then winced as he realized that, in the chaos of the previous night, it had completely slipped his mind to attempt to contact Crocker and alert him to what had happened that day, four years ago. This time, Timmy wasn't going to be attacking the network system in the sewers; not if he was going to use that same system to deliver that message to the retired teacher.

There was something else that needed to be done, now that the area was free for magic again. Something very important...

And it hit him as he spotted the Dimma-Dump location on the map. Mark! Mark Chang was supposed to be living there, last he checked at least!

"I gotta go!" Timmy blurted out, jumping up from his seat and making his way to the door. Chester blinked in alarm, startled by his sudden motion.

"What? Where? Why?" he asked one after another in confusion. The two fairies looked up and flew over to join their godchild, poofing into their respective disguises on his body.

"To the Dimma-Dump! I have to see if a friend of mine is still here!" the brunet called back and hit the pad on the wall to open the door, "Call me when Trixie wakes up so we can figure out what she learned from Francis! I'll be back in a couple of hours!" With that, he raced off, leaving Chester behind with a baffled look on his face.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Times are put to help keep events in order when you read through them. Enjoy!

* * *

11

Undisclosed location, time unknown~

"Ugh... My head..." Tootie groaned softly, lifting a hand to press against her eyes. She felt heavy, sluggish, like she'd suddenly gained weight in the time that she'd blacked out. Even her eyelids felt loaded down, as she struggled to open them, then gave up after a moment.

What had happened? She could barely remember the battle at the Spire and it was all some blur of pale blue paste and people screaming in a fury. She didn't even remember blacking out at all. Had she taken some hit that forced her into unconsciousness? But if so, then why didn't Timmy heal her already? Tootie flicked her fingers and felt around herself. A floor? What was she doing on the floor? It felt nothing like the asphalt and pavement of the Spire's lot and this certainly wasn't a bed in the infirmary back in the Ivory Tower. So, where was she?

The sound of voices filtered faintly into her ears and she strained to hear them more clearly. Maybe she could find a clue to her location from them. She heard the rustle of fabric closer to her and a faint whimper came to her ears.

"Romi?" Tootie whispered, recognizing the sound.

"I don't... feel good..." the fairy mumbled in return. There was the sound of her moving, or attempting to move, and Tootie felt her weight flop against her arm. "Where... are we?" she asked softly.

Tootie didn't answer, as a door opened and light streamed in, blinding her and making her head hurt even more as someone walked into the room. She groaned softly, struggling to get up as she heard Romi cry out in weakened protest, her body pulled away from the Goth.

"Hey...!" she managed to exclaim and squinted to make out who stood over her. The fairy was stuffed into a sack and then tossed back down carelessly.

"Now, get her in the truck and take her to her new cell or the two of you won't be enjoying the rest of the day." Remy's voice growled and Tootie felt a surge of rage course through her. So that was it! She had somehow been captured and that bratty millionaire thought he could get away with sticking her in some dungeon? Infuriated, she began struggling to get up, launch an attack of some kind so she could save Romi and get away, but she still couldn't get her limbs to respond. "Oh, bugger. She's waking up. Doctor, would you be so kind as to give her another injection?" Remy went on in irritation.

"Fine, fine." Dr. Bender's voice groused and Tootie flinched as she felt her arm being grabbed.

"No! No...!" she growled weakly, wincing as a sharp pain went through her arm and the hazy feeling of drug-induced sleep came over her again. She was being taken somewhere, and she couldn't even get enough information to figure out where she was and where she was headed now.

How humiliating.

* * *

Ivory Tower, 12:02 p.m.~

Chester marched into the conference room of the Tower with all the fury of a seasoned general facing a mid-war crisis. The rest of the team had already headed for home, each arming themselves with alibis and excuses to avoid suspicion of being near the Spire that night. Danni Phantom had taken off for Caleb's place in New York, as far as the blonde knew, which meant that he was pretty much on his own for this.

"Let's see what we got here." he muttered, tapping at keys on a pad at the head of the table. This was one of a few recent upgrades the Ivory Tower had received during renovations and repairs from Remy's attack with the tank. The conference table had a holographic projector hidden in the center and could be controlled with the keypad at the head seat, where Timmy usually took his place. Chester often sat to his right; Tootie to the left. Caleb often snickered at the placement of the two of them, murmuring over the 'appropriateness' of the arrangement. He got more irritated if Trixie began fighting for that position. No one was quite sure why.

A square section of the table's surface opened to make room for the disk that rose from within to take its place. It flickered to life and emitted a soft green light that traced out a floating cube, each face displaying the same thing, a map of Dimmsdale.

"Tootie was kidnapped from here, at Spire Three. The only people who could have taken her are Dr. Bender and Wendell, and Remy." Chester remarked aloud, tapping at the keys to mark the spot on the map. He stood in thought, considering the map again. "Now, Bender's office is over here, in the zone of Spire Two. Remy's mansion and the rest of the upper class are in the zone of Spire One." he went on, marking those locations as well, "Both of them are covered in nullifier waves or whatever, so magic and mana doesn't work so good there. That means either one could be blocking the signals from Timmy's band." He rubbed his head in thought, considering the placements carefully. "There's the Dimma-Dump. Timmy is going there right now." he added and tapped another key to mark that off, "That's nowhere near Bender's or Remy's places."

So now here was the problem, as far as Chester could tell. Tootie was being held someplace that couldn't send or receive signals from the Fairy Wand Locator in Timmy's armband. The two possible places that she could be held in were the dentists' office and Remy's mansion, both of which were capable of deflecting the signals. The team wasn't around to do anything and Chester himself had to head home as soon as possible to make his own alibi work out. But the sooner those two places were checked out, the better the chance they could rescue Tootie.

And yet, the team was still exhausted. Even with this information, Chester couldn't pull them all back and send them after Bender and Wendell for a search right now, far less than going after Remy. That was just asking for disasters to happen.

"I'm sorry, Tootie." the blonde finally sighed miserably, lowering his eyes as he pulled his hand from the keypad, "We can't do anything for you right now. Just stay strong."

Nothing could be done for Tootie right away, but they still needed to cover Trixie's trail. Chester blinked as he remembered that the Asian was still sleeping in the infirmary and rubbed his head again, thinking quickly. The android assistants that Caleb had put into the Ivory Tower to help maintain it were still around, and they could probably do that same voice imitation stuff that Caleb could do. Maybe he could get one of them to mimic Trixie's voice?

"Ms. Sage!" Chester began calling as he ran from the conference room, "Hey! I need a favor!"

* * *

Ibrahim Residence, 12:05 p.m.~

"Mom, Dad, I'm home from the study sleep-over!" A.J. declared as he entered the house, pack slung over a shoulder as he looked around furtively. There was the thumping of footsteps as his parents rushed in from the living room, dropping next to him and gathering him up in hugs and kisses. "Agh! Mom! Dad! What's going on?" he protested, wincing from the tight embraces.

"We saw the news this morning about the Buxaplenty Tower!" Mrs. Ibrahim exclaimed between planting kisses on his head, "We were so worried about you being out so late last night! What if those terrorists had come across you?"

"I was having a sleep-over at Timothy's house, Mom." A.J. explained reasonably, "We were studying for the algebra test on Friday." He tried to look shocked, "And what happened with the Buxaplenty Tower? What terrorists? What's going on?" His father looked grim as he led the family back to the living room.

"Last night, one of the Buxaplenty Towers was destroyed by a terrorist group, up near the financial district. It's been all over the news. Watch, the noon update is just about on now." Mr. Ibrahim replied, sitting them all down on the sofa and picking up the remote to turn on a wide screen television, "There used to be eight of them, but lately they've been disappearing. This is the first time we've learned what's been happening to them. Guess those other towers were taken down by the terrorists too."

A.J. looked between his parents before watching the television screen, eyes narrowing angrily when he saw Remy appear on the news. The blonde was grinning smugly as he talked on a cell phone, free hand gripping the aionis staff tightly. He hung up when someone gestured to him and the boy millionaire stepped up to the podium for an address.

_"Dear citizens of Dimmsdale, there's nothing to be afraid of. It may seem horrifying that one of my expensive towers has fallen prey to those hoodlums, but Remy Buxaplenty will not stand down against such evil people!"_ the blonde declared defiantly, _"And in doing so, all of Dimmsdale will stand strong against this vigilante band! They're only doing this because they see our poor city as weak and defenseless without the Heart of Dimmsdale. Well, we'll show them, won't we?"_

A.J.'s fingers gripped the edge of the sofa as he watched intently, his parents unaware of his tension while they gazed at the screen with determined expressions on their faces. The teen wasn't liking where this was going. If he knew Remy and his underhanded schemes, then this was the point where Remy was gonna try something sneaky to turn the whole fiasco to his advantage. All he could do was watch and see when the bombshell would drop.

* * *

Boyd Residence, 12:08 p.m.~

Elmer trudged into the house and made his way to the kitchen, plopping himself into a chair at the table with a mumbled greeting to his mother as she prepared lunch. She paused and looked back at him with a concerned expression, turning down the volume on the wall-mounted television.

"Oh, sweetie, thank goodness you're home! I just got started making lunch for the two of us and turned on the telly for my afternoon soaps and this awful news came on!" Ms. Boyd told him worriedly, "I'm so glad that you were safe and sound at your friend's house for the study sleep-over, far away from that evil group of people that blew up poor Mr. Buxaplenty's tower!" Elmer managed a smile for his mother's sake, wincing slightly at the phrase she used.

_'She'd faint right on the spot if she knew I was one of the people who 'blew up' the Dark Spire.'_ he thought weakly. He accepted the plate of sandwiches she handed him and picked one up to eat as his eyes wandered over to the television. He froze in shock, watching the news play out for a moment before dropping the sandwich and standing up, planting both hands on the table.

"Mom! Turn up the volume!" he blurted out.

"Elmer! Indoor voice!" his mother scolded in alarm.

"The volume! Now!" Elmer insisted more firmly, "I have to hear what's happening on the news!" Flustered, Ms. Boyd pressed her finger to the wall-mounted set, raising the volume to audible range. She blinked at the figure standing at the podium, addressing the crowd of reporters.

"Isn't that Remy, one of your little friends from school?" she asked and blinked again when Elmer hissed at her.

"Sshhhh! He's **not** a friend of mine! And I'm trying to hear this, Mom!" he pointed out and glared at the screen.

_"-this because they see our poor city as weak and defenseless without the Heart of Dimmsdale. Well, we'll show them, won't we?"_ Remy's voice came in mid-sentence due to the muted volume during the beginning of his speech, _"Perhaps this is a sign that we, as a city and as a community, must stand up and show that we are not weak and certainly not without a Heart. We must show these people that we cannot be pushed around by this violence."_ The blonde's smile seemed syrupy sweet and borderline arrogant, a failing attempt to look gentle and firm at the same time, _"Perhaps it is time to move to the next step to prove our strength, our unity!"_

"Oh, hell no." Elmer growled under his breath, ignoring his mother's scolding over his language. He had a sinking feeling that he knew what Remy was getting at. And the Others were **not** going to stand for it.

* * *

Avery Bunker, 1213 hrs~

Sanjay had to file a full report on what he was doing last night, plus scramble to make up for his morning exercises before his stepfather decided to be lenient and let him into the mess hall to eat. And it was while nibbling on a celery stick and listening to his mother fiddle with the radio that he heard a piece of the news at noon.

"Mother! Turn it back to the previous station right away, please!" he exclaimed, waving his arms and flinging the rest of his celery all over. Mrs. Avery blinked once and twirled the dial with a flick of her fingers, landing it perfectly on the news station.

_"-it is time to move to the next step to prove our strength, our unity! We must show those ruffians that we have progressed beyond grief and sorrow to a new age!"_ Remy's voice declared boldly.

"Spoken like a true American soldier-boy!" Master Sergeant Avery boomed, ducking the barrage of celery sticks with ease, "Sanjay! You could learn a thing or two from that young man!" A carrot stick joined in, bouncing off his nose at that remark. He blinked a few times and shook a fist in exaggerated outrage. "We don't allow for mutinizing in the Marines, soldier!" he bellowed.

"Hush!" Sanjay shouted and jumped over the table to turn up the volume on the radio.

_"People of Dimmsdale! The time has come to prove we haven't lost our Heart!"_ the blonde millionaire went on passionately, _"The time, dearest citizens, to declare a **new** Heart of Dimmsdale; a Heart that will stand strong and proud against these vicious terrorists that threaten our city!"_

"Male son of she-dog!" Sanjay shrieked, grabbing the radio and ripping it from the table it sat on, "We will **never** call you the Heart of Dimmsdale! We will die before giving you Timmy's title!" And he hurled the radio against the floor, startling his parents with his vehemence.

* * *

Bradley Manor, 12:25 p.m.~

Mr. and Mrs. Bradley cowered on the sofa, clutching each other for dear life as they watched with wide eyes the burning remains of their giant screen television, their eldest daughter standing before it with a flame-thrower in her hands. The sound of animalistic growling filled the air and the couple shut their eyes, shaking almost violently.

"P-p-p-please, V-v-v-vicky! S-s-s-s-sweetheart, we're sure he-he-he didn't mean that!" Vic babbled frantically, hoping that if he couldn't see anything, then maybe he couldn't be seen either.

"Everyone knows th-th-that T-t-timmy T-t-t-turner will always be the H-h-h-heart of D-d-d-dimmsdale!" his wife supplied through her chattering teeth, _"Please don't kill us!"_

The growl faded down considerably but remained audible as the carrot-top turned her head to glare down at her parents. They easily bought the story of Tootie being invited to another sleep-over; who were they to dare contend with the words of Icky Vicky? And she had also commented that they weren't allowed to try calling her at any time, since she was going to be busy with Goth stuff that no one understood. On top of that, Vicky added that she would be out more often to do some 'errands' and that neither parent were allowed to question what those were 'if they knew what was good for them'.

And then the news came on and Vicky froze in the middle of her death threats to watch the speech with gaping mouth and wide eyes that quickly twisted into a furious rage that resulted in her whipping out one of her favorite toys to demolish the exorbitantly expensive appliance at the end. The Bradleys dove for the sofa, praying to whatever god was listening that they be overlooked in their daughter's fury.

"Timmy is the one true Heart. And don't ever let me catch you thinking otherwise!" Vicky snarled and stormed out of the living room, "Clean up that mess!"

And they praised whoever had listened for sparing them and sat put for another five minutes before daring to leave the sanctuary that was the sofa.

* * *

Tang Mansion, 12:20 p.m.~

"And you're all right, Trixie? You're still your pretty self even after that horrible thing that happened last night?" Mr. Tang worried on the phone after hearing the ringing while watching the news. His wife stood by him, hands clutched together in agitation as she listened in on the conversation.

_"Of course, Daddy! I was nowhere near that tower or any of those unpopular terrorist people."_ Trixie's voice chirped brightly and both parents breathed sighs of relief.

"When will you be home, sweetie? We want to shower you with love and adoration and expensive new clothes!" her mother exclaimed, recovering from her earlier worries as though they never happened.

_"Well, I was invited to spend the day at Adrenaland with Timothy and his friends, but I'll call again soon and let you know. Bye-bye, Mom and Dad! Love you! Kiss, kiss!"_ Trixie giggled before hanging up.

And in the Ivory Tower, Chester tried his best not to laugh as Raine Sage set the phone down and gave him an icy glare.

"And that will be the last time I do such an embarrassing thing! Now, go study or do homework while I tend to the **real** Trixie Tang." she lectured and walked away in a huff.

* * *

12:32 p.m.~

With Trixie covered for, Chester made his way to his own trailer home, mumbling his alibi to himself as practice. Since the whole city had been rattled by the fall of the Dark Spire so early, schools were all closed down until the mayor decided when it was safe to resume them. Hopefully, that bit of news would work in favor of the alibis, as the cover story for the night had been that Team Turner was having a study sleep-over for various tests. Since, from the parents' points of view, none of them knew about the attack before it happened, it was perfectly understandable for them to waste the night studying for tests that could possibly never take place.

"Like, gosh, he's still trying to get the city to give him the title?" a girl's voice asked incredulously and Chester jerked his head up from his thoughts, puzzled as he took in his surroundings quickly and spotted a cluster of teens hanging in front of an appliance shop. Sensing something wrong, he hurried over to listen in on them, pressing his back to the side of the building and staying out of sight. He couldn't afford to get spotted on a route that didn't pass anywhere near Timmy's mansion; it would poke a huge hole in his alibi.

"What a jerky... jerk!" another girl agreed sullenly, "Everybody knows that you can't replace the Heart of Dimmsdale. Especially not with that snobby rich kid!" Chester frowned, folding his arms over his chest as he listened on, catching snippets of a news conference review between the teens' chatter.

Well, well; Remy was trying to make another push for the title again, and using the destruction of his own Spire as leverage. Man, what was it gonna take to get it through that guy's head? Timmy was the Heart; the Heart was Timmy. There was no ifs, ands, or buts when it came to that. It was simply cold, hard fact.

But, and the blonde frowned deeper as his thoughts traveled along a new route, Remy had recently gained something that could potentially rewrite that fact; Timmy's blank mana. With that and the aionis scepter, Remy could find a way to ingrain himself into Dimmsdale's mind as the new Heart. Until the team could get it away from him or destroy it, they had to treat Remy as though he had the same limitless influence Timmy held.

_'This could be trouble.'_ Chester thought to himself grimly, _'Remy as the new Heart of Dimmsdale leaves us all open to attack. The title is connected to the insignia, and the insignia is on our armor. If Remy takes over the title, his fairy gains control over the armor through his wishes!'_

This was definitely not good. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and flipped it open, scrolling through his list of contacts before clicking on one and bringing the phone to his ear. He listened for the beep of a voice-mail recording to leave his message.

"Hey. Remember that night a couple years ago? I'm calling in the favor. Meet me at the Heart's candle Friday night, after town curfew." the blonde murmured. Sometimes, training in the alleys of Dimmsdale at night paid off in ways that he didn't realize until now. Chester clapped the phone closed and slid it back into his pocket, resuming his walk behind the store to stay hidden.

* * *

Finally arriving at the Happy Trails Trailer Park, Chester braced himself and went into the oversized mobile home, expecting his father to jump him with questions on where he was on the night of the attack and other parental worries. After a few moments of standing in the doorway with nothing to show for it, the blonde grew faintly worried and began searching the trailer from top to bottom.

"Dad?" he called out several times and paused as he passed by the answering machine in the den. The LED was flashing, listing several messages in its memory. Tapping at his braces, he shrugged and pushed the button to recall them.

_"Chester! Boy, you better be asleep in your bed after all that ruckus on the T.V.! Naw, don't worry 'bout it right now; I'll tell you about when I get home from workin'."_

_"Chester, you better be in the bathroom right now! I'm expectin' ya to pick up the gosh darn phone next time and lemme know you're okay!"_

_"Chester... C'mon, boy, pick up the phone! You can't sleep through all this ringin'! What's the matter wit' ya? You been eatin' special dip again?"_

_"Hey, son! I can't remember your number now, so I'm calling here again! You better be there! Don't you leave that house till I get home!"_

_"Chester, just double checkin' to see if you're home from that sleep-over thing. That kid on the T.V., talkin' 'bout the Heart and all got me worried about ya again. If you hear this, boy, gimme a holler. Let a dad know his son's still alive, y'know? ... I love you, boy."_

"Love you too, Dad." Chester mumbled, dropping onto the couch and letting his arms and legs sprawl out, "But I dunno how much longer I got to live if we keep gettin' screwed over by Remy and his punk schemes." He relaxed for a bit, collecting himself and reviewing his alibi one more time before he reached for the phone, pausing as it began ringing on its own. The blonde waited a moment more, then grabbed and answered it, "Chester, here. Super-cool Leader of the S-List."

_"Finally! Boy, where the hell have you been? I've been worried sick all mornin' and right on till now!"_ his father blurted out in aggravation.

"I just got back from the sleep-over. Kinda overslept somethin' fierce, but I got a pretty good lunch out of it. Why? What's up?" Chester asked, feigning ignorance.

_"There's this hullabaloo all over the news about some bunch of people blowin' up towers and that rich kid tryin' to play it up to make himself Heart of Dimmsdale! I wanted to make sure you were okay. You didn't hear nothin' about that tower stuff, did ya?"_

"Nope. Timothy was helping me with my homework and my baseball playin' all last night. His house ain't near any tower or anything." Chester placated his father, closing his eyes as he thought through what he knew of Dimmsdale's layout, the dentists' office, Remy's mansion and the probability of one of those places being where Tootie was held.

_"Okay, just wanted to make sure my boy was still in one piece. I'll see ya when I get home; then we can go get some good eatin's!"_

"That'll be great, Pop. See ya later." Chester managed to make himself sound cheerful and oblivious before hanging up and setting the phone back on the cradle. He hoped Timmy made it to the dump and found that friend of his; they could use more help looking for Tootie. And the day after tomorrow, he was gonna go meet with an old friend to pull some strings of his own.

* * *

Buxaplenty Manor, 12:49 p.m.~

Juandissimo watched his godchild worriedly as Remy continued practicing his use of the aionis scepter, the boy smiling hugely as he worked the magic trapped in the orb to his whims. The more he played with it and its power, the more he was beginning to understand how it worked and bettered his use of it. And with that growing mastery came increasing jealousy of how much greater Neogene's prowess was in comparison.

Of course, it would make sense if one considered just how long the brunet had to work with it. Four years over maybe sixteen hours, tops? Juandissimo refrained from an audible 'Duh'; such a word was not _muy bonito_.

But what worried the Latino fairy the most about the whole thing was the orb itself. Magic tended to be free-flowing and often went rampant when pulled from various sources. Condensing it created a variety of crystals, gems and tokens. Certain kinds of magic became certain items when concentrated down to its purest form. And the kind of magic that formed into an orb like that was used only by creatures that were capable of conjuring as well as destroying.

So far, all Remy could do was destroy with it. Timmy was able to conjure and destroy. Juandissimo just couldn't quite grasp what that meant despite the constant nagging in the back of his head that this was very, _very_ important to understand. In the end, he simply shoved the thoughts aside and returned to musing over how to win Wanda over. He'd bested Cosmo in combat, though only because he'd gotten distracted by his godchild, and Wanda still refused him. What more could be done?

"It's only a matter of time now." Remy snickered, snapping Juandissimo out of his thoughts, "Just let them stew over it for a day or so and these people will come to my doorstep, begging me to become the Heart of Dimmsdale!"

"And then you won't be needing these Spires, _verdad_?" the fairy godfather asked hopefully.

"No, I'll still need them. The whole world has to be covered in them so that everyone except me will be miserable." the blonde remarked offhandedly, fascinated by the wisps of mana that wrapped around his fingers before grinning at them, "This is absolutely wonderful! Not only do I have that mongrel's magic, but I **actually** was able to use it against him after that riveting address!" Juandissimo rolled his eyes discreetly. He had watched that one-sided battle, and it looked more like Timmy had thrown the fight rather than get thoroughly beaten, like Remy claimed. As for the godchild... upon returning in triumph to his mansion, he declared he would practice more with the scepter so that he could use it to its full potential against the rest of Team Turner. He'd been tossing small fireballs around with them since then, setting several pieces of furniture ablaze before wishing them back to normal. He had also taken to naming the various little 'spells' he invented; _Luster Light_, _Money-Maker_, _Fancy Fire_... Remy wasn't that good at names.

And he wasn't that good at spell-casting either. Nearly everything he came up with was a pale imitation of one of Timmy's spells. Calling up one of his many consultants didn't really help; without being able to 'see' what they suggested, he couldn't craft it out of the mana trapped in the orb. At least the _Remy Ray_ was a moderate success, being both powerful and easily cast since its conception at the fall of Spire Three. For the time being, it looked as if it was going to be Remy's staple spell, since the others would either peter out soon after casting or go out of control and destroy everything around the boy millionaire.

Juandissimo sighed and dropped his chin back onto his fist, returning to his earlier musings over how to win Wanda's heart. Remy had promised to use Timmy's power to bring her to him. Would he even know how? Had it completely slipped both their minds?

Magic of **that** kind couldn't make someone fall in love with another against their will.

* * *

12:30 p.m.~

"Excuse me! Coming through! Pardon me!" Timothy exclaimed his apologies as he hurried through the crowds of people that seemed to clog the streets of the financial district like bacon fat in the kitchen sink. What the heck was going on that had so many people out in the streets anyway? He managed to squirm through the crowd and ducked into an alley, panting to catch his breath before poking his head out to scan the area and see what was happening. Was this an investigation into the Dark Spires? Maybe he could influence it to show how bad they were for the city and get public approval for destroying them.

And then he heard the roaring of mixed reactions, some of agreement, some of disapproval, some of outrage and some of pride. Whatever the heck was going on, it sure had the streets dividing up pretty fast.

"I wish I could get a better view of what's happening." Timothy sighed, quirking a corner of his mouth into a grin as he watched Cosmo and Wanda pop into view and smile at him while waving their wands in unison. In a burst of pink and green smoke, the trio vanished from the alley and were deposited on a rooftop closer to the action, a block from where they started. The brunet glanced around quickly both to be sure no one saw them and also to regain his bearings. He was supposed to be moving towards the Dimma-Dump, after all, not away from it. Once he had all that down, he peered over the edge of the roof at the streets, taking in the scene.

There were a lot of reporters standing around a podium, all waving microphones and cameras in the general direction of Remy Buxaplenty as he shook his head and began walking away from them, clutching the aionis scepter in both hands. Normal citizens who were standing around, watching and listening to the event had begun turning on one another, all shouting and shaking fists at each other, pointing and accusing neighbors of something or other. Timmy stared down at the riot in horror. What the heck happened that caused all this? What did Remy say?

"Cosmo, Wanda! I wish-!" he began, halting when Wanda quickly placed a hand over his mouth.

"We can't, Sport! Remy's still in the area! If you make a wish, he'll notice the effects and will search until he finds out who made it." she pointed out worriedly, "If he finds you, he'll wonder how it is you're able to make wishes when you've told him before that fairy wishes don't affect you."

"But the wish isn't for me! It's for them!" Timmy blurted out, waving his hands towards the frenzy of emotions called a mob down below.

"He won't see it that way." Cosmo muttered, wincing slightly, "And he's still got your mana trapped in that ball." The brunet moved his mouth silently a few times before sighing in dismay.

"So I have to let them wreck themselves and this part of the town?" he asked plaintively, "But that's not fair! What if people get hurt? They'll blame all this on the destruction of Spire Three!"

"All the more reason to stop destroying them, like Anti-Cosmo warned us." Wanda pointed out bluntly, "I knew we shouldn't have done this, but you were so insistent on it..."

Timmy shook his head, running fingers through his hair as he tried to get an idea of what to do. He could try doing crowd control the normal way, but there was little he could do without a stronger influence as Timothy Neogene in Dimmsdale or the use of his magical alchemy. A moment longer on thinking about it and he finally smacked himself in the forehead. Nope. Nothing. There was nothing he could do without compromising himself, the city or the mission he'd given himself to find Mark.

He was going to have to call this one a loss.

"Ugh. Let's just get to the Dimma-Dump before I do something stupid." he grumbled, running for the fire escape of the building. Wanda sighed and gazed over at her husband as he attempted to clean his ear and poked himself in the eye instead.

"That sounds familiar." she muttered, "Like I've been reciting it for almost ten thousand years or something."

* * *

Once again wearing a pink watch and green iPod, Timmy ran down the sidewalk towards the dump, dodging the still rioting people as they swamped the streets in their relatively unknown feud. He'd heard snippets of what they were fighting over, something involving him as the Heart of Dimmsdale and 'new age' or whatever. He groaned softly; he could only hope that the city wasn't trying to gear up for some kind of holy war on the rest of the States in his name.

"Please don't go tearing up the continent just because you think it'll make me happy." Timmy sighed and stopped abruptly as he caught a glimpse of Remy walking along with a smug look on his face. "Uh oh. I don't like the looks of that." he muttered, "What's he doing just wandering around here? I thought he'd have taken a limo back home or something."

"Probably enjoying all this chaos he stirred up." Wanda grumbled.

The blonde across the street was indeed looking around himself with that proud expression... up until he noticed Timmy standing on the opposite side. Then his face just darkened and his grip on the scepter tightened further.

"Did he just notice us?" Timmy whispered in alarm, tensing as he shifted slightly into a running stance.

"Looks like it." Wanda returned softly.

"Run for it?"

"He's got your mana under his control and there are too many innocent people here. Looks like he wants to use it on you and not care who's in the way."

"Running."

And Timmy bolted, making straight for the Dimma-Dump as Remy yelled and gave chase, shoving people aside with sweeps of his hand that lashed out with magically created wind that sent adults tumbling to the pavement.

* * *

It didn't take that long to reach the dump, just like it didn't take that long for Remy to catch up to him and start hurling all kinds of attempted spells at him. Everything from gusts of wind to laser beams tore into the surroundings in attempts to hit him. None of the actual mana connected, but Timmy was definitely being battered by the debris flying around from the misses.

"Run like the cowardly mongrel that you are!" Remy shrieked in twisted elation, lashing out with a wave of fireballs that rained down on the Dimma-Dump as Timmy scrambled to get inside and find cover among all the piles of wreckage and garbage. Something exploded and he found himself flailing through the air before landing roughly on one pile of trash.

"Gah!" the brunet gasped painfully, pushing himself up and shaking his head clear of banana peels and grime, "If he keeps this up, he could blow up Mark's ship and me along with this place!" He rubbed at his forehead, smearing something black across it absently, "Cosmo, Wanda, I don't suppose you two can help me with this?"

"Not without blowing your cover, Sweetie." Wanda replied worriedly, "We just have to find a way to get him off your trail and out of here!" She looked up at her husband as Cosmo continued dangling from his position over Timmy's heart, yelling 'Wheee!' over their impromptu flight. "Cosmo! Quick! Change into something that Remy can't see!" she yelled at him.

"Okay!" the green iPod declared brightly and immediately poofed into a Fenton Phone look-alike that was clipped to Timmy's ear. The brunet lifted a hand to it with a grin.

"That's perfect! Now he'll think I'm contacting the team and maybe it'll spook him enough to leave!" he remarked and jumped away once he spotted the blonde race around to face him, hurling a burst of pink and gold light in his direction. The pile of garbage exploded from the blast, sending both boys tumbling away as debris rained down. Remy scrambled to his feet, aiming the scepter at Timmy while he flipped back to standing and threw out his hands, _Bulla Scintillare_ blooming around them in flickering red and gold.

"Now that I have your magic, I'll be able to defeat you and destroy that wretched urchin's memory forever!" Remy declared with a laugh, "The city is already moving to name me the new Heart of Dimmsdale!" Timmy's eyes widened in shock and the spheres of fire around him died away in an instant.

"No! That can't happen!" he blurted out unthinkingly, "That name is tied to the insignia!" In a flash, his hand went up to his mouth, mentally clubbing himself for being so stupid as to yell about the threat to Team Turner's magitech armor. Remy stared at him in confusion, then smiled in dawning realization at what was being implied.

"Ah, that's right! Wishes made by fairies other than the one assigned to the Heart of Dimmsdale can't affect anything bearing its likeness, correct?" the boy millionaire purred, drumming his fingers on the top of the orb.

_'Actually, only Cosmo and Wanda can affect it, but if Juandissimo suddenly stops granting wishes that affect you if you manage to steal my title, it could start throwing suspicions on the rest of Da Rules concerning the other 'immune' people.'_ Timmy thought fearfully.

"But if **I** were the Heart of Dimmsdale, then I'll have the ability to do whatever I want to anything that bears that insignia!" Remy crowed in anticipated victory, "Including destroy that wretched armor your miserable allies wear!" He lashed out with his hand again, throwing another spray of fireballs in Timmy's direction.

_"Boltzman's Shield!"_ the brunet cried, throwing up the wall of mana in time to deflect the fire and wincing as they ricocheted off to slam into more piles of garbage. "Stop it! You'll tear this whole place apart!" he yelled, dropping the shield hurriedly to avoid more damage to the dump.

"It's just a filthy lot filled with garbage! The perfect place for you!" Remy laughed, swinging the scepter wildly as burst after burst of pink and gold fired from the orb, exploding violently as they impacted the ground, more garbage and Hanuman's Rod that Timmy finally was forced to bring out in defense. Each time the two collided, the brunet was shoved backwards. "Filthy, rotten, mongrel urchin!" Remy ranted on, accenting every word with a swing of the scepter, "Give up already! You've lost! In tearing down my Spire last night and publicizing it, you've given me the ammunition I needed to cement my glorious rising as the new Heart of Dimmsdale!"

"The people haven't decided yet!" Timmy snapped back, dodging another blast while twirling the rod to deflect flying debris, "That's why they're all storming the streets! You idiot, you're turning Dimmsdale against itself in an effort to take that title from Timmy Turner!"

"It should have been mine from the beginning!" Remy screamed in a fury as another blast rained more pieces of garbage and metal down on the brunet, watching him bat the larger one away with the pink and gold staff. "Juandissimo! I wish that blasted stick of his was out of his hands!" In a burst of purple smoke, the bow tie at Remy's neck vanished and appeared as the Latino fairy, one hand raised to shield himself from the mini-war as he waved his wand. Timmy gasped as Hanuman's Rod was snatched out of his grip by invisible hands and sent spinning into the air.

"How could that-?" he cried in alarm.

"There wasn't anything on it to protect it from wishes! It didn't bear any markings of either of your identities or the insignia!" Wanda told him quickly, eyes wide with shock and fear, "You have to get Remy out of here, now! Or Mark Chang could be killed in this battle!"

The blonde grinned hugely and thrust the scepter up towards the airborne staff, unleashing another burst of magic that impacted Hanuman's Rod and exploded, demolishing the weakened weapon with that final blow. Timmy covered his head as fragments of wood and metal rained down on the dump, then straightened and glared at Remy, ignoring the panicky look on Juandissimo's face as his godchild leveled the scepter to point directly at him.

"Get him out of here. I've got to get him out." Timmy murmured to himself and licked his lips, shifting anxiously as he braced for a plan, "He's not gonna leave until he thinks he's won. So let's give him a victory to go home and gloat over." Wanda's eyes went wide on the digital screen of her watch guise.

"What are you planning? Timmy?" she questioned in growing dread.

"Looks like the game ends here, Neogene." Remy chuckled, "All the power that you possessed is now in more capable hands. Too bad my benefactors are going to have to pick through trash if they want their payment." Timmy had a split second to look confused at that remark before the blonde fired another burst of pink and gold, a larger blast that shot straight for the brunet and collided with an explosion that shook the buildings around the Dimma-Dump.

When the dust and shower of trash finally began settling, Remy blinked a few times to clear his eyes from the blinding effects of his attack and gestured towards his fairy for him to stay close. With Juandissimo floating by his shoulder, the blonde walked forward carefully, keeping alert for any sudden movements. This would have been a lot easier if he'd thought to wish for the Aces High armor before getting into the fight, but hindsight was always clearest and it turned out that he didn't even need it. Just a few well-placed blasts of magic and the annoying immortal was bested... and by the magic that had been siphoned out of his own body no less! The irony was deliciously sweet.

Remy paused to savor that thought, smiling dreamily at it before shaking himself off and resuming his cautious approach. Finally, he saw the results of his work and grinned again.

The brunet had been blown clear of where he'd been standing, now lying limply at the base of another pile of garbage. His clothes smoked slightly, and the remnants of a magical shield was fading before him. Obviously a weak attempt at defense that broke under his more superior skills at handling magic. Juandissimo fluttered around the young immortal once, then headed back to Remy.

"He is no longer aware of this world, _amigo_. So can we get out of here now?" he whispered loudly, _"Antes que se vienen la policía por favor?"_

"Such a worrywart." Remy murmured in response and lifted the scepter again, "But I still have to hide the evidence." He swung it once more and a blast of wind shook the already unstable pile of garbage enough to have it tumble down over Timothy, hiding him from view as well as destabilizing several more heaps of trash enough for them all to collapse into a field of rubble and broken down cars and appliances. "That should do it." the blonde muttered, backing away from his handiwork, "You shouldn't have gotten in my way, Neogene. If you had just stayed out of the way, you wouldn't have been made a casualty as well. Ah, but that's the way life goes. Sadly, it was all beyond my control." He glanced up at his fairy godfather and sniffed disdainfully at the dust settling on them both. "Juandissimo! I wish we were home! This dirty battle has made us less than pristine." The Latino fairy jerked back to awareness and nodded quickly, waving his wand so as to whisk them away from the scene of the young immortal's fall.

12:45 p.m.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: All right, there's a lot that's happening here, including a quick jump to see what Caleb's been up to since we last ditched him and poor comatose Danny Phantom. Wow, they've both been out of active roles in the story for a pretty long time now, huh? Well, there's a lot of juicy clues and hints here to something big, so let's see if you can catch them. Bet you won't see them right away, heh heh. That's okay. I just hope this chapter isn't a big fail, after all, this will be my first foray into writing for Mark Chang. Oh! My hubby came up with how his introduction should go, so blame him for the brain-breaks. XD Enjoy!

* * *

12

It wasn't until near sundown that Chester had gotten a call from the Ivory Tower, asking that he return for an update on Trixie's condition. His conversation caught his father's attention and Chester scrambled for another cover story, this time claiming that he was being asked out on a date.

"Aw, shoots, my boy's growin' up and gettin' himself a lady friend!" Bucky exclaimed tearfully before recovering in an instant and grinning at his son, "So who's the lucky gal goin' out with future best baseball player the world has ever seen?"

"Trixie!" Chester blurted out the first name that came to mind, the one that had just been told to him over the phone. He immediately winced and mentally slapped himself for that one. Yeah, like anyone would believe a redneck was going on a date with Trixie Tang, the still undisputed Queen of the Populars no matter which set she hung out with.

"That Tang girl?" Bucky asked in surprise. Chester bit his lip and nodded hesitantly. There was a thick silence for a moment before his father grinned and thrust a fist into the air. "You go for it, boy! Make your Pops proud!" he declared, then turned back around in his chair and returned to watching the sports channel.

_'Either Pop really believes I can get a date with Trixie, or I must be a darn good liar.'_ Chester thought to himself and wondered if he should feel pride or guilt over that. He shrugged it off for now. He could have his moral breakdown later; right now, he had to know how Trixie was feeling. Grabbing his jacket off the back of the sofa as he ran by, Chester headed for the door and made a beeline for the bus stop, hoping to catch one that could take him close to the Ivory Tower so he wouldn't have to walk the whole way.

* * *

Ivory Tower~

"How is she? How is she?" Chester shouted excitedly as he raced through the door to the infirmary. Trixie blinked one eye as she rubbed at the other, sitting up in her bed as Raine stood by with a glass of water and a bottle of medication. Apollo fluttered his wings in annoyance, but remained seated on the bed next to his godchild.

"Huh? Chester? What's going on?" the Asian asked in confusion, looking around herself, "I don't remember falling asleep here. Or getting hurt."

"You can discuss this after you've taken your medicine." Raine told her and handed her the glass. Trixie accepted a pair of pills from the bottle, gulped them both and drained the glass of water before handing it back. "That's a good girl." the half-elf added with a smile, "Now, I'll be helping Mint with Anti-Cosmo, so just ring for me if you need anything." With that, she bowed and left the room. As soon as she was gone, Trixie turned her attention to the blonde again.

"So what happened? Did we blow away the Spire?" she asked eagerly, "Did we beat up Remy and his gang? And what happened that got me stuck here?" Chester blinked at her in surprise, then sighed as he pulled up a chair to sit by her.

"You might wanna brace yourself, Trixie. I have a faint idea of what's going on because of our meeting today." Apollo murmured. She looked down at the fairy, then up at the blonde, a worried look crossing her face. Chester sighed again, more heavily this time.

"Trixie, what are the Black Hound Files?" he asked grimly, "And what do they have to do with the machine that killed Timmy four years ago?" Trixie stared at him, face paling as she lifted her hands to grip herself by the arms.

"I remember now... Francis talked about that last night." she whispered, "I must have fainted then." She closed her eyes, nibbling at her lower lip delicately before nodded slightly. "The Black Hound Files are a set of files and articles I stole from Remy's computer when I was still part of the A-List, before I convinced Timmy to let me be an S-List member." Trixie began softly and threaded her fingers together nervously, "Most of the files are about Timothy Neogene, since Remy was trying to find out as much as he could about him. He was nicknamed the Black Hound because he wore dark clothing and pursued the anti-magic devices like a bloodhound, accurate and relentless. Some were about the Dark Spires; blueprints, network schematics, assigned units and their designs. The rest of the files were about Timmy Turner; the obituary, various schemes to make him lose his fairies, hate mail that never got sent... that kind of stuff."

Chester leaned forward in the chair, face carefully masked by a stoic expression as he took in the information.

"I heard about all that. You and A.J. and some of the assistants here used that information to help us with strategies against the Dark Spires and the anti-magic devices." he replied, "What does it have to do with that machine? A.J. said it was made by an outside company; the Dark Spires and its units are designed and manufactured by Crocker." Trixie shot him a tearful glare as she twisted the white sheets of her bed in her hands.

"The machine that was in the playground... the one that turned the jungle gym so that Timmy would die from a broken neck..." she growled fiercely, "I had seen it before, and now I know why. That machine was designed four years ago by Remy Buxaplenty!" And Chester's mask broke under that, an expression of pure shock taking its place as he reared back in his chair. "Remy designed that machine and commissioned some company to build it, then had it buried under the jungle gym in a plot to murder Timmy Turner!" Trixie shouted angrily, _"It's all his fault the Heart of Dimmsdale died!"_

Apollo cringed at the sheer fury in her voice, twisting his wand in his hands as Chester stood up, hands clenching into fists. He'd regained his stony expression again, glaring down at the tile in silence while Trixie lifted her hands to her face and sobbed quietly. The fairy looked between the two of them, unsure of what to do now. Should this be put into his report, or would it be better to leave it out?

"Heh." Chester suddenly chuckled. Trixie stopped her crying and looked up at him in alarm. "Heh heh heh." the blonde laughed again, soft and dark, "Heh ha ha ha ha!" The former Popular blinked and twisted her face in anger.

"Chester? Why are you laughing? This isn't funny!" she demanded angrily, "We practically have proof that Remy set things up to have Timmy murdered!"

"And that's why I'm laughing!" Chester finally exclaimed, throwing up his hands and laughing loudly even as tears ran down his cheeks, "Don't you see, Tricks? We have a suspect and proof! All we need is motive and decisive evidence and we can reopen Timmy's case!" He grabbed Trixie's hands and held them between his own, eyes shining brightly. "We can have it reopened and changed from 'accident victim' to 'murder victim'! And we can have Remy arrested and charged with murder!" he blurted out joyfully, "Closure, Trixie! We can have closure and all of Dimmsdale will know the truth behind Timmy's death!"

The Asian stared at him in shock before realizing what he was saying and squealing in a mix of joy and sorrow, throwing her arms around his neck in a fangirlish hug. Apollo yelped and rolled back out of the way, narrowly avoiding being crushed in the middle. The two teens hugged each other tightly, laughing and crying as the knowledge sank in.

"You're both crazy." the fairy sighed, grinning for a few seconds before letting it fade, "And it seems like you have a good shot at making that happen. However, you need to hammer everything out and make it solid and ironclad, or else Remy will find a way to cast doubt on it and get away scot-free again." The teens pulled apart and sat back in their respective seats, rubbing tears away as they regained their composures.

"Right, right." Chester breathed and stretched his arms out before dropping them onto the armrests of his chair. He couldn't help his grin. "So, let's review. Four years ago, Timmy fell from the jungle gym and broke his neck in a fall that was totally wrong since the bars moved around to make him hit them; it ain't natural. That was 'cuz of a machine buried under the thing that got switched on from Crocker's room at school. The machine was also built by some mystery company, using a design that Remy Buxaplenty came up with." he counted off the facts on his fingers, "Since then, Remy's been giving everyone hell trying to make himself a replacement for Timmy so Dimmsdale would focus all their attention on him and practically worship him. That's gonna be our motive for him; he was jealous of Timmy's position and wanted his competition gone!"

"Nope." Apollo declared and poofed himself into a buzzer that filled the room with a loud and aggravating blast of noise before poofing back. "That's not gonna work. Timmy's importance wasn't established until _after_ his death, so Remy wouldn't have reason to kill him. In fact, if he'd known that Timmy's death would cement him as a martyr for Dimmsdale, Remy would have done all he could to keep him alive and deny him the title." the fairy pointed out, "Try again."

"Remy never liked Timmy; they were rivals at everything ever since they met." Trixie suggested, "Maybe he got tired of being beaten at everything and decided killing Timmy would enable him to finally win?" Apollo shook his head, transforming into a giant sign with two red 'X's painted on the white cardboard.

"Strike two!" he announced, "Childhood rivalries aren't strong enough in public opinion to be cause of a murder motive. Ten-year-olds don't understand the concept of death and murder, far less plan one that is so complicated." Both teens went back to thinking hard about their situation. Chester toyed with his braces, running his tongue along the mythril wire on his lower jaw, until he blinked and grinned at another idea.

"I've got it!" he exclaimed and glanced around to be sure he had Trixie and Apollo's attentions, "Okay, we know Timmy has two fairy godparents and Remy only has one, right? And we know that Remy hates it when someone else has something he thinks that only he can have, right?" He sat back and folded his arms over his chest in victory. "So maybe it was that he was trying to get rid of Timmy's fairy godparents, so he murdered Timmy himself 'cuz you can't have fairies if you're dead!"

Apollo exploded in a plethora of red and gold fireworks, the buzzer blaring even more loudly than before.

_"Absolutely not!"_ he shouted angrily, "That will **never** hold up in human courts!" He poofed back to his normal self and shot over to stand on the table, glaring up at the blonde in grim determination. "There is so much wrong with that, I barely know where to begin." he growled, "First of all, no one on Earth is supposed to know about fairies except for their godchildren. Second, adults refuse to believe in magical creatures like fairies to begin with, and will abuse their powers if they do. Case in point, Crocker." He held up two fingers and lifted another. "Third, revealing the fact that there are fairies, especially if those fairies are Cosmo and Wanda, will instantly result in the destruction of Timmy's mission and the recall of every fairy godparent on the planet, followed by the order to have Timmy brought up to Fairy World to face punishment of his own." Apollo hissed, "Are you willing to sacrifice Timmy Turner to convict Remy of murdering him?"

Chester and Trixie both stared at him in horror, then looked at each other helplessly. It seemed like nothing they could come up with could be used to make a murder charge stick to Remy. The Asian pulled her hands through her hair in despair.

"Well, then, what do we do? We know he's responsible for this, but how can we prove it? How can we say for sure that Remy murdered Timmy without revealing everything about what we've been doing?" she wailed. Chester sighed harshly and sat back, drumming his fingers against his arm as he considered the situation again.

"Friday night." he remarked bluntly, catching the attentions of fairy and godchild at once, "On Friday night, I'm meeting with the Chief of Police to request a new investigation of Timmy's death. That's why I was so happy to hear about the Black Hound Files; I want to use parts of them as ammo in the new case." He glanced up at Trixie, "Nice to see that we already have a good chunk of it all wrapped up, just need the last pieces and the Chief to make it all neat and official." Trixie gasped in surprise and leaned forward, eyes wide with awe as her hand lifted to her mouth.

"You can meet with the Chief of Police?" she whispered in surprise, "You sound like you know him personally!" Chester gave her a roguish grin, tilting his head coyly.

"That's 'cuz I do." he replied and laughed, waving a hand in dismissal of any more questions of it, "Meantime, we should put together what we have to present to the Chief, and then figure out a motive for Remy." He checked the time on his cell phone and sighed, "It's getting late, town curfew is almost here." He managed a vague smile at the Asian. "You think you're up for heading home? I can walk you there." Trixie blinked and glanced away shyly, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.

"Um, I was gonna wish myself to the front door..." she mumbled and Chester sighed, rubbing the back of his head.

"Yeah, I keep forgetting you can do that. Oh well. See you tomorrow; Timmy will probably want us all back here so he can introduce us to whoever it is he's been gung-ho on finding." he remarked and got up, waving absently as he left the room, "'Night, Tricks!" Trixie watched him leave, mouth moving silently as if unsure whether to give voice to her words or keep it shut, falling back on the uncomfortable middle ground instead. Finally she sighed and hung her head, shoulders drooping in defeat, as Apollo shook his own with disapproving clicks of his tongue, twirling his wand in one hand.

"Trixie, Trixie, Trixie, poor little rich girl." he remarked with an exaggeratedly dramatic sigh, "Torn between two lovers and all..."

"I am **not**!" Trixie snapped at him, suddenly all fire and fury again as her eyes flashed angrily, "What are you talking about?" The fairy shrugged with a grin that was eerily similar to the one Chester had worn only a few minutes ago.

"Just saying, you might want to decide who you really want before you break too many hearts. It was all fine and good in your early years, being the shallow Popular you were, but now you're dealing with two people in positions of power." he remarked lightly, "So you might wanna stop sending out those mixed signals and focus on what it is that you want and feels right, rather than what you want for the sake of wanting it to make yourself look good." Trixie gave him a puzzled look, eyebrow lifted in confusion. The fairy swordsman sighed again, this time in defeat. "Never mind. You'll get it eventually." he grumbled and looked over at the doorway, "He's a good kid. Might not be the greatest catch out there, but his heart's in the right place. Must be the Turner kid's influence rubbing off on him."

Trixie looked towards the door herself and tilted her head slightly in thought. That considering look came over her face again, but only for a moment and she lifted fingers in a gesture she'd seen Timmy make several times before.

"Apollo! I wish I was dressed in a nice outfit and I wish I was standing just outside my door so that my parents think I've been out and nothing bad happened!" she declared and the fairy waved his wand to grant it.

* * *

Archives of the Twin Blades~

Caleb stood before the glass wall that overlooked the infirmary, gazing through it at the sleeping halfa. Despite the promising results of Timmy's reversal of the corrupted ectomana, there had been little change in Danny Phantom's current condition. He remained in slumber, still healing from the injuries caused by his resistance to the initial attack of the relics in the Ghost Zone. The android sighed and turned away at last to watch the other halfa float in with a pair of boxes in her arms.

"So, how were things in Dimmsdale? Did you get what I asked for?" he questioned softly. Danni set the crates down on a table with a muffled grunt and rubbed her arms.

"Not too good, I'm afraid." she sighed, "The tower went down as Timmy said it would, but they lost Tootie and a fairy named Romi, both of them kidnapped by one of the opposing forces. Also, the stolen aionis had been used to craft some kind of mana transferal system. It was used on Timmy and a large amount of his personal mana was stolen. Someone named Remy is now in possession of it and is using it as part of a staff of some kind crafted out of some remnants of the aionis. Whatever was left of the original device was picked up by local authorities and stored as evidence." She reached out and patted one of the boxes. "Evidence that I brought back less than legally, as requested." the girl ghost remarked with a grin, "Along with something else that I remembered Danny mentioning to me one day."

Caleb frowned deeply at the report, folding his arms over his chest as he took in the information and processed it.

"Just when it seems as if we gain an advantage, we fall back several steps. Not good. Anything else?" he muttered. Danni nodded as she separated the boxes and opened one up, peering inside it.

"Yeah, something about Apollo trying to recreate Cosmo's Doom Ribbon. He was successful but discovered soon after that the magical drain of that attack was enormous, suggesting that Cosmo's got more magic power than he's letting on. Oh, and I think they said something about his scythe being destroyed, so he's gonna need a new one." she added absently, "They also mentioned that Trixie fainted after saying something about the Black Hound Files, but she's in the Ivory Tower and recovering well." She reached into the box and pulled out several pieces of burnt wood, depositing them carefully on the table, talking all the while. "Also, Timmy's blaming himself for the disaster and is refusing to let any other Heroes into Dimmsdale to finish the attacks for him. Such a stubborn boy." Danni went on, eyeing one of the fragments before setting it down as well, "On top of that, while I was moving through Dimmsdale invisibly to get this evidence out of the police station, I caught wind of a news conference that Remy kid set up. Apparently, he's using the Spire's destruction as a launch pad to convince the city into naming him Heart of Dimmsdale. Not sure how that went, I didn't stick around to hear the whole thing, but the police radio in the station reported several outbreaks of mass rioting, so that probably means it wasn't well-received. Some of them were really bad riots, too; I heard that a couple of punk kids set fire to a dump or something, or set off some kind of explosion over there."

She paused when the android's shadow fell over the scraps of wood, then looked up to see him stare down at the pieces in confusion. He reached out and picked one up, studying it before giving her a questioning look. Danni shrugged sheepishly, putting on a bashful smile. The redhead sighed and set the piece back down, gesturing for her to continue her report.

"There's not much else to say, beyond that Remy's threat level went up because of his holding Timmy's mana in his hands." she sighed and blinked, snapping her fingers, "Ah! Speaking of threat levels, is it true that Timmy's casting changed? Should he be reclassified?" The halfa looked faintly troubled. "The last time you tested him, he barely made it to Level Four. But everyone over there keeps insisting that Timmy's a lot stronger than that." she added worriedly, toying with her index fingers as she floated there, "Like he could be a Level Two, like Cousin Danny."

"We won't know until I re-test him and check his strengths. I'll do so once his missions are done with and Dimmsdale is freed. How is Team Turner covering for the fact that they're missing three members?" Caleb asked instead, steering the subject away from Timmy's unknown potential, "Considering the fact that two of them are human and have families?" Danni shrugged.

"The Trixie girl should be fine. Just a day of rest and she oughtta be home by now. The Tootie girl, on the other hand; no plans were told to me about her, just her sister wanting mondo revenge to the point that she punched Timmy." she remarked and scowled, folding her arms over herself, "I wanted to get her back for that, but Timmy wouldn't let me." Caleb sighed and shook his head in exasperation, then gestured to the wood.

"What is this? I've run an analysis on it, but beyond the fact that this wood has far less mana in it than usual, there's nothing significant about it." he remarked and Danni smiled brightly, holding her hands out to the fragments.

"These are the remains of Timmy's bo!" she giggled, "The one that you said got burned up? Danny said that the first time you and him and Timmy had a meeting about dealing with the first Dark Spire, Timmy had said that he lost his bo in a classroom and the police took it away." She winked as she patted the second box, "So I went and grabbed it along with the aionis pieces. Think there's a chance that it can be rebuilt?"

"From these burnt remnants?" Caleb questioned, poking at a fragment of wood, "Hmm. It might not be easy, but I'll call some people and see if something can be done." Danni clapped her hands together eagerly.

"Great! Then I can give it to Timmy as a present!" she exclaimed and flew over to the glass wall, peering through it at her 'cousin', "So how is Danny doing? Any signs of him waking up yet?"

"None yet, but he's healing nicely." the android murmured as he began leaving the room, "You should head back to Amity Park and help the rest of Team Phantom keep things in check. His parents are having a difficult time as it is, having to pretend the androids I sent over really are their son and Danny Phantom. They could use some support from a surrogate niece. I'll be working on replacing the Windcutter, so I won't be available for a while." Danni nodded silently, sighing sadly as she pulled back from the glass to teleport away.

* * *

Morning~

The Dimma-Dump had seen better days. As it was, the dump was a mess, moreso than usual. Garbage was strewn everywhere, smoldering from the attacks of the previous day; whole piles of junk collapsed and spread out in a manner that suggested the place was officially ground zero to a battle. In one section of the dump, a portion of garbage quivered before melting into liquid metal and plastic that swirled in a whirlpool before solidifying into a perfectly round iris of shining metal.

The iris opened with a faint whisper of a whir, allowing a figure to rise to the top of the layers of trash on a round disk of transformed metal, one hand pressed flat against the disk, free arm wrapped around a bundle of dark blue fabric. It coughed a few times, then sighed in annoyance.

"Darn it, Remy. When I said I couldn't die anymore, I kinda **meant** it. Stop trying to 'do me in' and stuff!" Timmy grumbled irritably, setting the bundle down to stretch his arms out and pop several kinks out of his back. He'd spent all night curled around his fairies, thankful that the garbage had fallen on him in such a manner that it built a dome over the three of them and kept them from being crushed. However, the blast of magic that Remy had fired on him had definitely knocked him, Cosmo and Wanda for a loop. The two fairies had fainted from the blast, but the weak _Boltzman's Shield_ was enough to dampen the blow for Timmy so that he could just fake being unconscious.

Surprising to know it fooled even Juandissimo when he came in for a closer look.

Sadly, it wasn't enough to satisfy Remy, as the jerk decided to add insult to injury and bury him in garbage. But it formed the dome and Timmy managed to squirm about enough to get Cosmo and Wanda free, hugging them close as he drifted off to sleep, too exhausted to try escaping right away.

Then morning came and he set to work on the pile, reaching out to focus on the trash and transforming it to help him get free. First, he melted the garbage around himself, converting everything to metal and forcing it to create a more stable dome to keep it from collapsing. Then came protecting his fairy godparents while he worked on the rest of the tunnel. For that, Timmy just pulled his shirt off and wrapped them in the fabric. Cosmo and Wanda didn't bat an eye at it, dozing on as they snuggled against each other. He'd grinned, picked them up and touched fingers to the top of the dome, concentrating on transforming everything above him into a shaft for an elevator.

It was hard at first, all the converting he was doing. It gave him headaches, and now and then he would stop to catch his breath and let the pain recede. His skin would crawl and itch along his back, but the feeling would fade after he stopped working and then he could resume converting the trash. When the iris at the top opened and showed him the clear blue sky, Timmy set his hand down against the ground, concentrating on turning several cans that had been left there into a disk that he would use as the elevator. One disk and a lot of effort into making it rise through dead air later, Timmy, Cosmo and Wanda were out of the trash and in the fresh air.

"I so need a bath after all this." Timmy sighed, opening the bundle and gently shaking his godparents awake, "Cosmo, Wanda! Hey! It's morning and we're clear now!" Still nothing, and he would be going shirtless until they got up. The brunet sighed harshly, propping a cheek on one fist, not relishing that thought. As he looked around, wondering if the riots from the previous day had finally ended, he caught sight of a torn blanket on the heap of garbage, forgotten and lonely-looking as any scrap of fabric. Timmy blinked at it, then grinned as he got an idea.

If he could turn garbage into a dome and elevator, then why not make clothing out of it too?

Cosmo and Wanda finally woke up, looking around themselves groggily before laying eyes on their godchild picking up a dirty blanket and touching a finger to it. The blanket glowed softly before turning into a white light that shifted shape in his hand. When the light faded, a fresh, royal blue turtleneck was left behind, which Timmy immediately pulled on to cover himself with a sigh of relief.

"Agh! I told you to wish for things you want or need!" Wanda yelled angrily, waving her arms about wildly before falling back with a groan of pain, "Ugghhh. My head..." The brunet gave the fairies a faintly exasperated smile.

"Shouldn't have done that then. Hey, don't worry about my converting things. It's not conjuring, so it shouldn't set off any warning bells, right?" he remarked offhandedly as he returned to pick them up and tuck the other shirt around them both, "Remy took off last night and left the dump in one piece, mostly. So, let's get to looking for Mark. Sooner we find him, the sooner we can head home and clean up." Wanda glared blearily up at him, freeing one hand to try salvaging her dirtied hair, mussed from its usual curled style. Cosmo looked back and forth between her and Timmy, as though uncertain as to whose side he was on, before deciding sleep was everyone's friend and promptly went back to it.

"We're going to have another talk about this when we get home." the fairy godmother finally told him, "But for now, you're right. Let's find Mark." Timmy rolled his eyes with a good-natured shake of his head.

"Whatever you say, _Mom_." he teased and began walking around in search of an abnormally large junked car, the last thing he remembered Mark disguising his ship as, knowing that Wanda would make some kind of face at the taunt and make it all the more amusing for him.

* * *

The search didn't take that long, but it certainly felt that way in the beginning, as Timmy had completely forgotten about breakfast and dinner the previous night, cringing as his stomach growled in protest. Wanda pulled him back at one point and waved her wand in front of his face, prompting him to wish for a meal that all three of them shared in. The brunet wasn't fond of eating while still a mess, but he was grateful for something in him nonetheless and resumed his poking around in the dump on a more cheerful note.

A giant junked SUV loomed over him as he spotted it perched precariously on the top of a large pile of garbage. Timmy lit up at the sight and scrambled up the pile eagerly, ignoring the multiple little cuts and scrapes he picked up from scrabbling over broken metal and glass. He ran his hands over the vehicle upon reaching it, searching for the real door under the hologram. When his fingertips found a gap in the smooth metal, the brunet grinned and reached his other arm out to find the opposite edge. Once both hands had discovered the sides of the ship's entryway, he focused on the metal and tried forcing it to bend outward. His concentration was broken, however, by Cosmo rapping on his head with the star of his wand again.

"Hey! Heeeyyy!" the green-haired fairy called out, "Heeeey, Timmy!"

"Ugh, god, what **is** it?" Timmy griped, wincing as his godfather continued rapping on his head, "And keep it down! We don't want the whole city to hear you call me that!"

"Use a wish! Use a wish!" Cosmo told him brightly, "Why have a headache using your mana magic on Mark's ship when you can wish the door was open?" Timmy sighed harshly, still wincing as the rapping continued.

"If I wish it, will you stop hitting me?" he grumbled.

"Ding ding ding ding ding!" the dapper fairy chanted, "But this is so much fun!"

"I wish Mark's ship was open!" Timmy yelled and both fairies shot up over him, waved their wands in sync, and the hologram flickered away, revealing the door that was beginning to shake in preparations for opening. Timmy blinked and hurriedly stepped back from it, raising a hand to summon a shield if it tried to fall on him... only to groan in exasperation when it slid to one side with a faint hiss. "I swear, it's like everything's out to get me lately..." the brunet grumbled as his godparents snickered over his reactions, "Come on. I'll heal once we're inside." And with that, the trio of magic-users entered the opened ship to search for their Yugopotamian friend.

* * *

Ivory Tower~

"Weirdness. Timmy isn't here yet?" A.J. remarked as the group reconvened in the conference room. Vicky took her place at the table, grumbling softly that she had to halt her personal search and rescue to see what Chester wanted. Elmer and Sanjay were both still fuming over the previous day's news. Chip, having no place to go, was given a room in the Ivory Tower to stay in and made himself right at home. He came downstairs wearing a robe over his clothing and holding a mug of something hot and steaming in one hand. The other members stared at him, aghast that he, of all people, would drink something as harmful to teeth as coffee... only to smack themselves collectively when the singer lifted an eyebrow at them and showed them a box of white tea that he used to make the drink. It was the only hot beverage he would ever drink, as it was good for teeth and kept his shine pristine. Trixie and Apollo showed shortly after the tea incident, with the girl refreshed and ready to fight and the fairy still looking slightly worried. The young immortal that led them all, however, had yet to be accounted for.

"I called his cell phone earlier this morning, but he never answered." Chester remarked, "So I left him a message in voice mail. He'll show up whenever, I guess, and with his buddy, too."

"Hopefully sooner than later!" Sanjay declared in irritation, arms folded over his chest, "We need to make motions to halt Remy's newest attempt to take the title of Heart of Dimmsdale!" Chester sighed and rubbed his head.

"Yeah, that too." he muttered and tapped at the keypad again, bringing up the map of Dimmsdale he had built up yesterday, "We have lots of stuff to deal with on our list. First, we gotta find out who took Tootie and where she is. Next, find a way to get Dimmsdale back to its senses and remind it that Timmy's the Heart and no one else can be allowed to have that title." He gestured at the holographic map. "Once we have those dealt with, we can focus on trashing the next Dark Spire."

"Also, we have to recompile all our info on what happened at the playground four years ago." Trixie added with a vicious grin, "Including your scenario simulator, A.J.! With all that, we can reopen Timmy's case and prove he wasn't killed in an accident!"

"We can bring somebody up on murder charges?" Vicky asked hopefully, lips curling up in a cruel smile, "I'm loving the sound of that!"

"As fun as that sounds, we have to divide up our workload for today and get the other stuff done too." Chester pointed out and began singling out members for their missions, "Okay, Tricks, Apollo and A.J., you guys have had the most contact with the Black Hound Files. Get back to it and pull together everything that could make a good case for us. Evidence, the scenario simulator, everything." They stood up, grinning at each other over their mission.

"Let's make a rock solid case that any prosecutor will be proud of!" A.J. laughed, throwing the girl and fairy a thumb's-up.

"And make someone pay for what they've done!" Trixie agreed, winking at him with a giggle, "Come on, Apollo! We've got work to do!" They rushed out of the room, eager to get started. The rest of the team laughed brightly at them, then turned back to Chester for more orders.

"Vicky, you started up the Charity Babysitters in Timmy's honor. Elmer, you're in charge of acting as stand-in Timmy, and Sanjay, you've got tons of Timmy Turner memorial stuff." the blonde remarked thoughtfully, "You three can be in charge of coming up with something to counter Remy's claims and making sure there's no doubt in Dimmsdale's mind as to who the Heart is around here." Vicky snorted as the three chosen for that mission stood up.

"Great, but shouldn't the twerp be in on this, too?" she asked dryly, planting one hand on her hip, "As far as Dimmsdale knows, Timothy Neogene of New York City is the head chairman of the Timmy Turner Foundation. All he has to do is say the word and 'Timmy' remains undisputed as the Heart of Dimmsdale." Chester sighed and shook his head with a shrug.

"That's what I wanted to do, but he hasn't called back or shown up." he remarked, "You can try giving him another call and letting him know what's up." The carrot-top huffed with a grin and gave a short nod as the group began to leave the room. Chip looked around the empty room, then up at Chester with some confusion. The blonde only smirked as he held up a fist, brushing his fingers against the black wristband to summon his magitech armor.

"Now, the two of us are gonna make a few house calls," Chester chuckled, "and find out exactly where the heck Tootie and Romi are being held." Chip blinked a few times, then matched his smirk with a cool smile, summoning his own armor in answer.

"Yeah. Let's." he agreed.

* * *

Undisclosed location~

Tootie stirred, awareness returning bit by bit as she re-tested her limbs. They still felt deadened and heavy, and she groaned at the headache that spread through her mind. She was getting sick and tired of being drugged just to get moved somewhere, and as soon as she was feeling better and got free, she was giving Remy a piece of her mind about it.

"Twenty thousand volts worth of it." she growled hoarsely, "A nice shot of _Thunder Arrow_ oughtta do it."

"Uughhn... Keep it down... please..." Romi whimpered from beside her. Tootie managed a small smile as she kept her eyes closed in hopes that it would help relieve her migraine.

"Romi, you're awake. Are you okay?" the young Goth asked softly.

"N-not really. We passed through a heavy nullification field." the fairy whispered, "So my magic is rather low. I... I barely have enough to stay alive." Tootie gasped in alarm and struggled to move her arm, trying to reach out and find her fairy godmother.

"Help me find you, Romi! I'll cast a healing spell and maybe that will recharge you and...!" she urged.

"No. You can't mix magic. It'll make it worse." Romi murmured sternly, "I'll be fine for now. We just need rest, both of us."

"Do you have enough for a wish? So that I can at least shake off these stupid side effects?" the Goth asked, shifting herself to get a better look at her surroundings.

"Whether I do or not doesn't matter now." the fairy whispered, "My wand is gone. Someone took it." Tootie sighed harshly, dropping her head back against the floor and wincing at the pain.

"Dammit. So I can't wish for anything. That's okay. You need to conserve magic anyway." she muttered and clenched her hands into fists, "As soon as we regain enough strength, I'm gonna bust us out. Let's just get some rest." Romi mumbled an agreement to that, sidling close to her godchild for some warmth and comfort.

* * *

It was dark inside Mark's ship, like everything had been powered down and abandoned. Cobwebs draped themselves over the computer equipment and various gadgets that Timmy had no hopes of ever understanding. The shimmering light of the _Cure_ spell faded and the brunet shook himself off, half-heartedly trying to get some of the grime loose before looking around. Cosmo and Wanda fluttered close to him, Wanda holding her hammer close at hand and Cosmo aiming his wand into the darker corners of the ship. This place may be the home to a friend of theirs but they wouldn't take any chances that the computer's memory might have degraded and forgotten that Timmy and the fairies were friendly to its occupant.

"Mark? Mark Chang, you out there?" Timmy called out as he ventured deeper into the ship. It was very simple in design; one massive room with the controls to the bow and plenty of empty space where Mark usually kept his toys, furnishings, and alien technologies. Picking his way around stacks of canned broccoli and a beaten up refrigerator, Timmy searched the room for signs of a green and blobby alien. Wanda hissed at her husband to catch his attention, then shook her head away from herself as a signal for him to move ahead. Cosmo blinked and stared at her blankly before seeming to understand, setting his face in grim determination as he floated forward to scout the rest of the area.

The brunet sighed after a minute and sat down on one of the couches scattered amongst all of Mark's belongings, bringing both hands up to prop his cheeks onto as he gazed glumly at his shoes. Maybe this was a dead end; for all he knew, Mark had called up his parents at the first sign of Timmy's death and took off for Yugopotamia, figuring marriage would be a less horrendous fate compared to living alone and friendless on Earth. Or worse, he could have just taken a smaller ship to another planet and waited for F.L.A.R.G. to roll around to end himself. Either one of those could explain the deathly quiet of the ship and the spooky state of unkemptness, the lack of someone yelling 'TUR-NER!' at him the way only the Yugopotamian Prince could, placing emphasis on all the wrong syllables and mistiming the stress to create a dialect that was Mark's and Mark's alone.

Wanda looked down at her godchild in commiseration and sorrow as he finally buried his face in his arms, pulling up his legs and uttering a barely muffled sob. The idea that he'd lost a friend entirely was hard on him and she couldn't help the maternal instinct that rose in her. Fluttering down, she put away the hammer and reached out to hug him as best she could in her small form, wrapping her arms around one of his and laying her head against his shoulder.

"It's okay, Sweetie. I miss him, too. Sometimes, things don't work out the way we'd like, and we have to make do the best we can with what's in front of us." she murmured with equal pain, letting personal experience slip through in the form of her own tears. "Maybe, if Fate is kind again, we'll be reunited with Mark Chang in another time. We'll live forever, and you can keep wishing yourself young so that he'll recognize you. It'll be okay, _sunu_." she whispered comfortingly.

"It's been four years... I was stupid to think he'd stay here even one day without me to help him or entertain him..." Timmy sobbed bitterly, "What kind of friends are we, to abandon each other like that?"

"Hey! Wanda! Can I have a Mark Chang-flavored popsicle?" Cosmo yelled out suddenly, destroying the somber mood with his upbeat voice. Wanda jerked back in alarm when Timmy's head snapped back up, eyes wide and bright with still unshed tears, an expression of confusion and shock on his face.

"Mark Chang-flavored popsicle?" he echoed strangely.

"Cosmo! What are you doing?" Wanda shouted in exasperation, "Timmy's not feeling good and you're making it worse with a stupid joke like that!"

"But there's a big glass freezer with a Mark Chang-shaped popsicle in it! I wanna know if it's Mark Chang-flavored so I can get one!" Cosmo wailed back in a childish tantrum and Timmy launched himself from the couch, leaping over furniture and alien gadgets in a desperate race to get to where the dapper fairy floated.

"Why didn't I think of that?" he yelled in anger, whether at himself or at Cosmo, Wanda wasn't sure but she shot after him nonetheless, "Aliens have all kinds of technology and junk! Mark might have just done some weird alien-space-freeze thing to himself!"

"Cryo-stasis." Wanda corrected him and the teen threw his hands up in exasperation between jumps.

"Whatever! The point is that Cosmo found him!" he declared and ran on. Wanda sighed, mentally filing away the flicker in the air she had seen and flying after him to be sure he stayed safe.

She made it to the scene in time to see Timmy press his hands against the glass capsule that supposedly held Mark Chang, peering in at him with his nose barely touching the glass. Cosmo floated nearby with a proud grin on his face. The brunet breathed on the capsule and rubbed at it with one fist, trying to get a better view. Even through the film of ice crystals layering the interior of the glass, Timmy could make out the green squid-like form of his friend, the clear dome that held his brain in place, the garish pink 'Image Fakifier' belt that allowed him to change forms, and the multitude of tentacles that acted as his hands and feet to help him move around and interact with the world.

"Well, that's him all right. Now how do I get him out of there?" Timmy wondered aloud, looking over the rest of the capsule. There were some computers attached to it but the symbols scrolling up on it were unknown to him. Lights were flashing and there was the consistent beep-beep-beep of a monitor that Timmy was familiar with, but nothing that really clued him in on what to do. He peered at the computer screen, fingers hovering shakily over the various buttons on the console below it. There had to be something that could wake Mark up, but what?

"Make the buzzy sound!" Cosmo exclaimed right in his ear, sending Timmy flailing in a panic and crashing into another computer, elbow jabbing a panel that lit up with a bright pink glow.

"Cosmo! You idiot!" Wanda snapped at her husband and chased him around the room wildly while Timmy cradled his injured arm, frantically trying to assess what damage he had done. All three of them were unaware of the happenings to the other computers and the glass capsule until it began belching white fog and tubes popped off with loud hisses. They froze in alarm, watching with wide eyes as the glass capsule opened, sending the freezing cold mist out to blanket the room and drop the temperature and visibility. Timmy winced, hugging himself tightly as the cold dredged up the unwanted vague memories of death.

Something touched the metal flooring of the ship, almost soundless and easily lost among the hissing of the cryo-stasis tubing were it not for the out of place tone of flesh touching metal. Timmy squinted into the fog, watching the shadowy form of a large, upright squid make its way forward. And then the fog suddenly was whisked away by fans as the rest of the ship abruptly awoke, lights and sounds coming on in the wake of the capsule opening, and Mark Chang stood before the brunet in all his alien glory, staring right at him with flat glare and mouth pulled into an annoyed frown, as though accusing him of the crime of waking him up in the middle of a pleasant dream. Timmy stared back, fear creeping along him as he started to see himself from Mark's point of view.

An unknown human, having broken into his ship and woken him from sleep, had seen things no other human should. Such a thing was dangerous to him and would need to be 'dealt with'.

Timmy barely opened his mouth to cry out his identity when Mark beat him to it, the alien throwing his two main tentacles up into the air as his face took on an elated expression, switching moods faster than Timmy could blink.

"TUR-NER!" the Yugopotamian Prince declared, "Chocolate-eating warrior of Earth!" The fairies dropped out of the air in a mix of shock, stress and relief that no blood would be shed that day. Timmy only gaped at the alien, eyes widening further at his words.

"You recognized me? You know who I am?" he exclaimed, gesturing to himself in his dark Neogene wardrobe. Mark laughed smugly, waving a tentacle around in mocking as he rolled his eyes.

"Ch-yah! Like, the silly pink hat's a dead giveaway, Dude." he replied in that odd surfer's accent that no one quite figured out how he obtained, given the mannerisms of his family. Timmy blinked again, one hand going to his head out of habit to check for his hat. Nothing, just his hair and empty space.

"But... I'm not wearing my hat..." the brunet remarked inanely, confusion crossing his face at the alien's explanation. The Yugopotamian Prince laughed again, waving his tentacles around as though enjoying some immense joke only he was privy to before finally winding down and wiping a tear away with the tip of one appendage.

"Haaa, just messin' with ya, Brah." he sighed with a grin before switching back to his menacing glare, "Seriously, who are you?" And Timmy's face hit the floor at the dizzying turnabout of moods.

Maybe waking Mark up without wearing his Turner wardrobe wasn't the best thing to do.


	13. Chapter 13

13

Dr. Bender's Dental Office~

Wendell sat blissfully in his recliner in the waiting lounge, caressing a black cylindrical device against his cheek. His father was in his office, pulling yet another tooth out in his never-ending quest to cause pain and torment. They were on shaky grounds when it came to Remy, but if things worked out the way the rich boy wanted, then Tootie would eventually be given back to them and Wendell would have his Gothic angel again. Ahh, sweet bliss. Until then, he made do with keeping a memento of her after her dagger had been taken and tossed into the trash.

"My little beauty with your perfect teeth," he sighed dreamily, "I promise we'll be together again! And the whole town will see us as perfectly matched with perfect teeth more perfect than even Chip Skylark's!"

The door to the office exploded inward, sending dust and debris flying as a brilliant blue-white light shone in and blinded the replacement secretary at her desk. Wendell shrieked and dove behind a sofa for cover, peering out shakily as Chester and Chip strode into the lounge with scowls on their faces, clad in the Heart of Dimmsdale armor that emphasized their greatest strengths, Chester's power and Chip's agility. The singer swept his gaze around the room before spotting the quivering young dentist and grinning in a faintly malicious manner.

"**Whose** teeth are the most perfect ever?" he asked in deceptive sweetness.

"Uh, um, yours?" Wendell stammered back, clutching the black device in his hands. Chip grinned wider at the response.

"Yeah. Let's keep it that way." he purred and followed Chester as the blonde wrenched the other office door open, roaring inside for Bender to get out and face them.

"We know you two paste-heads had something to do with Tootie! Tell me where she is!" the Leader of the Others raged. The patient screeched in terror and fainted on the spot, leaving Bender free to retaliate.

"Like we're telling you anything! Toothpaste monsters! Attack!" the dentist ordered. Pale blue and mint-scented paste oozed out from under the closet door, forming into several of the smiling creatures. Chester and Chip vacated the doorway for the lounge, preferring the more open space for confrontation. It filled quickly with the presence of the monsters, Bender and Wendell, once he scrambled from his shelter to join his father with a new smug grin on his face.

"Same old routine." Chester muttered unconcernedly, lifting one hand to let his fingers dart in a series of motions that made no sense whatsoever to most of the occupants in the room. Chip shifted stances, turning his head slightly as he kept an eye on the toothpaste monsters.

"Ha! Now we've got you surrounded!" Wendell taunted from his father's side, "**Whose** teeth are the most perfect ever?"

"Still mine." Chip retorted and smiled widely, firing the Dental Laser at Chester, who bared his own teeth to display the gleaming metal braces that reflected the laser in a shower of beams that cut through the last of the monsters shielding the dentists. Paste exploded and splattered the walls, furniture, and people, sending the still blinded secretary screaming into a wall in a panic over the sounds, promptly knocking herself out in the process. Bender and Wendell ducked, covering their heads as holes were punched into the ceiling and walls, showering them all in still more dust and debris.

When the Dental Laser finally faded and the dentists looked around themselves, the tables had abruptly turned, leaving them at the mercies of the redneck and the singer. Chester grinned at them both, a sinister sight that more than matched the cruel smirk Remy often sported during their meetings.

"Right. Now, I'm telling ya again, and this is the last time I'll do it nicely. Tell me where Tootie is, right now." he remarked icily. The dentists huddled together, quaking before the two of them in fright.

"Okay, okay! We'll talk!" Bender wailed, "Just don't blast us with that light either!"

"How the heck did you even get that mask off? Tootie said only the one she loved could get it off!" Wendell added in defiant fury, "And **I** couldn't get it off!" Chester ignored him, lifting a hand as though to make another motion, and the dentists yelped, shaking even more violently than before.

"All right! I admit we took her and that flying fairy-looking thing that night, but she didn't stay with us!" Bender shouted, sweating bullets as his eyes remained locked on the uplifted hand, "Remy made us give her to him! He's got her! _He's got her!_" Chip and Chester looked at each other grimly. This just confirmed the Leader's worst fears; Tootie and Romi were being held in that room at the mansion, the hall leading towards it filled with nullifiers. It was hard enough for Timmy to sneak them in that first time; doing it again would be nearly impossible without a huge distraction that would also provide them with plenty of cover.

"Well, now we have to do something about Remy." Chip sighed, folding his arms over his chest, "Like he hasn't got us doing enough to deal with him." Chester nodded and the two made to leave... when the sight of the black object in Wendell's hand stopped him cold.

"Give me that!" Chester snapped suddenly, glaring at the dentist in full fury as he stabbed at the device in his hands, "If you want to keep those teeth in your mouth, _you will give that to me!_" Wendell clutched the device more tightly in his hands.

"Over my dead body! This is a memento of my lovely Tootie!" he shouted. For a moment, it seemed as though the blonde was about to honor that first remark. Then, he stilled, standing there in frozen silence as he bowed his head, hair shadowing his face and hiding his expression. For a moment, the three other occupants of the lounge wondered if he was standing in defeat over that. Chip reached out to touch his shoulder, jerking back when Chester snapped his head back up with a cold and intense look on his face aimed right at Wendell.

"You will give me that thing in your hands, or you will pay penalty for keeping it from the Others." he told the other teenager in a low tone, holding out his hand towards the device, "Under Timmy Turner's power, I am the second most powerful influence in this city. Do not deny me when I give an order. An order **you will obey**."

And Chip watched with astonished eyes as Wendell silently and immediately held out the black device, gaping up at him in some mix of terror and awe. Chester took the object from him and clipped it to his belt before turning from them and breaking whatever spell he'd cast on them.

"Let's go, Chip. We're done here." the blonde muttered and they left the wreckage of the dentists' office behind, unanswered questions still hanging in the air.

* * *

Cosmo and Wanda were welcomed by Mark right off the bat. He recognized them, knew them, was friends with them and thus they were graced with a rare hug that the Yugopotamian spent a few minutes pumping himself up for to get over his ingrained aversion to the vile idea of a 'kind embrace'. Timmy, on the other hand, for being dressed in unrecognizable clothing and not explaining fast enough who he was, was promptly dropped in a vat of the most horrid thing in Mark's collection of weapons and torture items.

_"Will you stop dipping me in chocolate already?"_ the brunet shrieked after having been coated several times in the stuff. Mark stayed by the lever on the wall, shaking a curled tentacle at him.

"You have dared to steal these floating friends from the greatest warrior the universe has ever known!" the alien yelled back, "You will be dipped in this disgusting chocolate until you beh-ehg for mercy!"

"But I **am** Timmy Turner! I keep telling you that!" the young immortal snapped, shaking his fists back at his friend, "Yeah, I died, but I was brought back to life and now I'm using a different name and different clothes to hide myself! It's an Earth version of an Image Fakifier!"

"LIAR!" Mark screeched, waving four tentacles in the air wildly as Cosmo and Wanda floated by him, giggling behind their hands at their godchild's plight, "The real Tur-ner would use his friends' power sticks to make a better Image Fakifier! You don't even look like him!"

"That's the _point_!" Timmy yelled in exasperation, screaming as the alien pulled the lever again and dropped the brunet back into the vat of chocolate for another coating. A minute passed and Mark hoisted him back out, watching impassively as he sputtered and coughed, kicking his legs and swinging the rope that suspended him back and forth. "Oh come on!" Timmy finally shouted, "What do I have to do to **prove** I'm Timmy Turner to you?"

"Why not ask him a question that only Timmy can answer?" Wanda whispered to the alien suggestively, "Then you'll know for sure." Mark considered this for all of ten seconds before raising a limb into the air.

"Right! Human!" he declared imperiously, "I will ask you a question that only Tur-ner can answer! If you can answer this, then I will accept you as the chocolate-eating warrior of Earth that was defeated most ungracefully by that evil human contraption!"

"Great, half-drowned in chocolate and I have to take a pop quiz." Timmy grumbled in embarrassment, lifting one hand to his forehead to try hiding the expression, "And I wasn't defeated; I fell off and broke my neck, for crying out loud!"

"A-hem!" Mark cleared his throat loudly, "Question! What totally awesome Yugopotamian holiday did Tur-ner celebrate with me on this planet?"

"F.L.A.R.G.!" Timmy yelled back in relief over being asked something he knew and remembered far too well to forget, "We celebrated F.L.A.R.G.! And how the heck did you avoid blowing up the Earth for four straight years without anyone to help you celebrate it?" Mark screamed in horrified girlish tones, startling Cosmo and Wanda as they waved their wands to transport Timmy from his suspended state to the floor before them. The brunet sighed, pulling off a glove to wipe some chocolate from his face and study it disdainfully. "I don't know how many showers I'm gonna need to ever feel clean again." he grumbled and deliberately licked his fingers clean of the chocolate, eliciting another horrified scream from the alien watching him.

"**TUR-**NER!" Mark yelled in joy, "Like, Dude, it is so totally **you**! The gnarliest, chocolate-eating warrior the universe has ever seen!" He waved his tentacles at the teen's hands, "You even devoured the most lethal concoction of the dreaded liquid without burning or melting into human goo! Only **you** can do that!"

"Of course he can! It's chocolate!" Wanda exclaimed happily and poofed beside her godchild to eagerly scrape some off his face with a finger and taste it herself, licking her lips afterwards, "Mmm-mm! Dark chocolate!" Timmy rolled his eyes and sighed, but smiled anyway at his godmother's antics.

"So, we're in agreement that I'm really Timmy Turner?" he asked the alien. Mark waved an appendage in dismissal.

"Ch-yah. I knew it was you the whole time." he replied offhandedly, "The controls that woke me from cryo-stasis were locked with Tur-ner's DNA. Only the same DNA can unlock it and raise me from my radically hideous slumber!" The fairies and immortal stared at him in disbelief.

"Then why-?" Timmy finally squawked, waving his hands wildly at the rope, vat, and alien. Mark laughed heartily, wiping his eyes free of tears as he waved again.

"The look on your face, Brah. It is the most priceless thing in my memory collection now!" he declared with a grin, "It will make a most hor-**ren**-dous dream!" Despite wanting to do something violent and 'explodey' to the alien, Timmy found himself more puzzled by those words.

"Dream?" he echoed and Mark wiggled in a manner that suggested he was nodding.

"Ch-yah. How else did you think your planet survived four years of F.L.A.R.G.?" he asked in response and tapped at the dome on his head, "I played back the memory of our first Earth F.L.A.R.G. whenever it was time and the elation of experiencing it was enough to keep my AP-pendix from exploding into a planet-destroying explosion." Timmy scratched his head absently, momentarily forgetting he was still coated in chocolate.

"That makes total sense." he remarked softly, blinking at his friend, "And knowing it scares the heck out of me." He paused and looked down at himself as if realizing he was covered in chocolate for the first time before smacking himself in the forehead. "Duh. Fairy godparents." he berated himself, "I wish I was totally clean again!"

"I wondered how long it was gonna take for him to remember he could do that." Cosmo remarked to his wife cheerfully and they waved their wands to grant it. Mark slid over to a couch and perched himself on it, tapping at a gadget nearby to make a pair of broccoli shakes pop up.

"Right, so..." he began, gesturing for Timmy to sit in another chair as he picked up one of the shakes and began sipping at it, "Tell me, Tur-ner; what has happened to the world since I have been sleeping?" The brunet took his place at the opposite chair, leading his godparents to sit on the armrests with him and absently accepting the offered shake as he began recounting what he knew. A sip of the shake, a quick shudder and mental preparation to grin and bear the 'treat', and Timmy went on to tell the stories he'd collected.

From the time spent in New York, establishing his identity and training in the use of magic, to the discovery of the Dark Spires in Dimmsdale that threatened the world's supply of magic and mana, to the discovery that his supposed accidental death was actually a manipulation of events to have him murdered, Timmy told his alien friend everything. It was actually refreshing not to have someone explode in anger over learning that he, the Heart of Dimmsdale and source of life to the city, had been the victim of a murder. Mark only lifted an eyebrow at the revelation and tapped out the order for another shake.

"You, my friend, need serious firepower on your side." the alien finally remarked once all was said and done. Timmy nodded tiredly, slumped against the chair after his energy was spent in talking and gesturing. Mark waved a tentacle absently. "Then, it is decided. I shall join you in this quest of yours to re-conquer your planet and make it your domain once again!"

"What?" Timmy questioned in alarm, sitting up, "Wait, no, that's **not** what I meant!" But Mark had already made up his mind on it, waving again.

"There is no shame in admitting that some weaker human used tricky tricks to steal your planet from you; there **is** shame in not doing anything to vanquish your foes and conquer your planet back!" he declared and sipped at his shake with a grin, "So at least you're doing one thing right, Brah." Timmy sighed in defeat and slumped back against his chair, gazing over at his fairy godparents as they looked up at him in sympathy.

"I'm not winning this one, am I?" he asked and the two fairies shook their heads in unison. Timmy closed his eyes and sighed again. "I thought as much. What time is it anyway?"

"String!" Cosmo chirped as Wanda rolled her eyes and pulled Timmy's phone from his pocket, opening it up to check.

"Three forty-five in the afternoon. We've missed lunch." she reported and jumped when the brunet leaped out of his chair.

"Ack! And I was supposed to be at the Ivory Tower this morning! Everyone must be in a panic over me being missing!" he exclaimed and grabbed the phone, studying it carefully, "I knew it! I've got two missed calls and a voice mail here; when the heck did the alarm get turned off?"

"You have others helping you conquer Earth?" Mark questioned, puzzled by Timmy's behavior.

"_Saving_ the world, Mark; we're _saving_ the world. But yeah, my other friends are helping. You remember them, right? Chester and A.J. and the rest?" the brunet asked. Mark tapped himself below the mouth with a tentacle before wiggling in a decidedly 'shaking his head' manner. "Blonde kid with braces, smart bald kid..."

"Oh, those guys." the alien remarked in an unimpressed tone as Timmy slid the phone back into his pocket and looked around himself for anything else he might have forgotten, "Ch-yah. So, they're looking for ya, Brah?"

"Pretty much, yeah. Hey, you want to meet them too? Get caught up on things?" he asked, "You still have your Image Fakifier, right?"

"Normal human Earth child, coming right up!" Mark declared eagerly and spun the atom-shaped dial on his belt, popping into the form of a ten-year-old boy with pink shirt, green shorts, hat and sandals, curly black hair and red eyes. Timmy rubbed his head with a wistful grin, remembering early childhood days where the two of them had crazy adventures trying to keep him in check.

"Pretty good, but you need to make yourself look a little older. My friends will recognize you if you show up as a little kid. You need to be the same age as me to blend in more." he pointed out and Mark blinked at him before twisting the dial again. He popped into an older version of the same human form, standing at equal height to Timmy and sporting green wristbands in addition to the previous wardrobe.

"Ch-yah! No one will ever suspect me of being anything less than a normal human Earth child!" he laughed and pumped his fists into the air, "Bring on the buckets of government food!" Timmy laughed with him.

"Great! Cosmo, Wanda, I wish we were at the Ivory Tower!" he exclaimed and the group disappeared in a puff of pink and green smoke.

* * *

Ivory Tower~

Apollo looked over the small collection of evidence a few more times, finally nodding his head in approval. Rather than looking elated, however, Trixie and A.J. only gave small sighs of dismay. After picking apart the information they had collected, the fairy swordsman had cut and slashed out everything that could connect the murder incident to fairy involvement, resulting in the abysmal amount of evidence that could be used to reopen the case.

"So the only heavy hitters we have left is the scenario simulation data, backed by a few notes, the sketch of the device, pieces of the device itself, data on the switch and a photo of the hole in Crocker's room." A.J. sighed, shaking his head, "That could be enough to cast doubt on the case and call for another investigation, but without a motive and decisive evidence, we can't pin it on anyone."

"Remy." Trixie corrected, chewing on her thumbnail nervously. A.J. blinked in shock and stared at her. She noticed his look and pulled her finger away. "We're pinning the murder on Remy. Why do you think I was pulling all this evidence from the Black Hound Files?" she added grimly, "Remy plotted Timmy's murder and had it carried out. We just have to prove his motive and connect him to the jungle gym device." The other boy sat down in a chair, too stunned to say anything else.

"And he's been trying to usurp Timmy's title ever since." he finally murmured, "The bastard." Apollo nodded again, this time more grimly.

"Let's hope we can keep gathering new clues and that Chester has some stellar contact with that police chief." he agreed, folding his arms over his chest as he hovered in the air, "Otherwise, your case will fall apart in court and you'll never be able to charge Remy for Timmy's murder again." He paused and frowned, pulling his wand from his sheath to run his fingers over it. "Picking up a signal..." he muttered and looked up in surprise with the others when the intercom snapped to life.

_"Please gather in the war room. Timothy Turner has returned with a new ally. Repeat, all personnel please gather in the war room. Timothy Turner has returned with a new ally."_ a young girl's voice announced in a blunt, almost emotionless tone. Trixie lit up, hurrying out of the lab as A.J. scrambled to collect the evidence, pack it into a box and follow her out. Apollo watched them leave, then held his wand out to allow a light to shine up from the star. A fuzzy image formed within it of someone standing at attention. The fairy saluted quickly.

"Special Agent Apollo, reporting. Here are the latest developments..." he began, eyes narrowing the slightest bit.

* * *

The war room had become crowded now that everyone had gathered within its confines. Well, almost everyone. Timmy glanced around himself quickly, noting with some alarm that Chester and Chip were missing. Mark was busy with holding his hands over his mouth at the sight of Vicky, turning a shade of green that mirrored his normal flesh color.

"Oh gosh! What happened to my evil babe? She is, like, totally hideous now!" he exclaimed in dismay and Vicky shot him a glare.

"Hey! I heard that!" she snapped and scowled angrily, folding her arms over her chest, "Stupid Europeans! Why'd you drag him into this, twerp?"

"Where are Chester and Chip?" Timmy asked instead, ignoring the question in favor of trying to locate his missing friends. The team looked at one another in confusion and concern, finally giving him a collective shrug. Timmy sighed and shook his head. He should have kept better track of his time. "Never mind. I'll just wish them here. Cosmo, Wanda, I wish Chester and Chip were here in the war room!" he remarked with the usual flair of thrusting a finger outward. The fairy couple spun their wands and lashed them out, summoning the two teens in a blast of magic smoke.

"Oh, so that's what you mean by random recall?" Chip remarked to Chester almost casually as they waved away lingering remnants of smoke and magic. The blonde nodded and Timmy rolled his eyes at them.

"I'm afraid to ask what you two were doing running around in your armor, so take a seat and let's get this meeting started." he sighed and blinked when Chester thrust a fist out at him, gripping a familiar hilt in his hand.

"We were 'running around' trying to find Tootie!" he growled, "And this is what we got back from those dental idiots!" He tossed the Laser Blade to Timmy for inspection as he looked over the rest of the team grimly. "Remy was the last person who got her. Chances are pretty dang good she's been taken into his mansion and stuck in that little room where he had me held for a while." he added and folded his arms over his chest, "So what's the plan?"

"Right now, we don't have one. Let's see what the others have first. We can come up with a strategy once I know exactly what everyone's been doing while I was out dragging Remy's attention all over the place." Timmy growled and looked to the rest of the group, "Hit me with it, guys! What's been happening?"

Team Turner looked at one another in concern, then collected themselves in preparation for whatever may happen next.

"The rich twerp's trying to make another play at taking your title." Vicky started off with a growl, nails digging into her arms as her eyes flashed angrily. Some of the team members swore later that they had seen little fiery daggers in them, she was that infuriated. "I've been trying to come up with some gimmick for keeping the city on your side, since Dimmsdale's tearing itself to pieces trying to get a Heart. Figures it finally got the idea that its dying without you here and these Spires are some kinda omen of bad crap right when we need it least!" She shook her head after a minute, glaring at the table, "I couldn't think of anything. Not when twerpette is being held hostage at that punk's place. The Boil Kid and Army Brat here weren't much help, either." Timmy sighed heavily, running his fingers through his hair.

"I know about that first part. I was at the scene of his little publicity stunt. Missed the speech, but he caught sight of me and tailed me all the way to the Dimma-Dump." the brunet agreed and grimaced, "The only way I could think of to get him off my case without destroying the whole place and possibly killing Mark here was to make him think he beat the holy crud outta me. So I've kinda been buried under garbage since yesterday afternoon, I think." He flinched as his friends glared at him and gave them a sheepish smile. "Well, I didn't think anything _bad_ would happen! I mean, I'm already dead, what more could a few tons of junk do to me?"

"A lot." A.J. grumbled and waved a hand to draw attentions to himself and Trixie, "We've been gathering evidence to reopen your case and build a new one, changing your cause of death from accidental to homicide. You were a murder victim, Timmy, and like it or not, we're gonna press charges to get some justice done in this city." The rest of the team let out whoops and cheers, eerily ecstatic with the news as Timmy slapped his palm against his face in exasperation.

"Oh, for crying out loud!" he complained over the ruckus of pats on the back and calls for a toast, "Haven't I taught you people anything? What's throwing somebody in jail supposed to do? It's not gonna undo my death and it's not gonna fix what happened to Dimmsdale!" Trixie huffed, hands clenching into fists as her face reddened in anger.

"Maybe not, but it _will_ teach Remy that he can't get away with murdering you!" she shouted and the entire room went absolutely silent and still, all eyes staring first at her in utter shock, then slowly moving to look at Timmy and his godparents. The brunet stood there, stunned and eyes wide, as he continued staring at the Asian teen. Cosmo ground his teeth and turned abruptly from them, fist tightening on his wand as if he were about to march off to kill the boy himself, stopping only because Wanda grabbed his arm and clung to it tearfully.

"Broke Da Rules, he **broke** Da Rules...!" the green-haired fairy hissed darkly, "Broke them, the bastard, and they dared to take **my** life, _our_ lives, as punishment!"

No other sound came from the young immortal, who had yet to break eye contact with Trixie, now seeming to see through her into the distance before finally, _finally_ closing his eyes with a sigh that sounded as if it reached from all the way to the very center of his being, full of defeat, acceptance, and relief, a strange combination of emotions. His shoulders lifted, dropped, relaxed, and an oddly sad smile crossed his lips as he opened his eyes, his entire stance taking on a relaxed, easy-going air.

"I see. Somehow, that doesn't really shock me as much as it should have." he remarked, startling everyone in the war room, "I mean, I've sort of known it the whole time, and I sort of didn't. The little clues and hints, the little bits of information Remy himself gave me when he was confident in his plots... it all adds up now. The answer had been there from the get-go and I just ignored it." The group gaped at him in disbelief.

"Why?" Elmer finally exclaimed, the first to cry out the very question that had leaped into their minds collectively. Timmy shrugged, giving a little laugh as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"I dunno. Seemed like a good idea at the time, I guess." he replied simply, "I mean, the whole point of me being here at all was to bring down the Dark Spires and free Dimmsdale, not get revenge. So even knowing who killed me, after learning my death was planned, after all that, it still doesn't change my plans."

"It doesn't change ours, either, Timmy." Chester growled, hands clenching into fists again, "We're pressing charges, we're getting Remy arrested and convicted of your murder. We're getting our revenge for you, with or without you liking it." He glared at the brunet, as if daring him to try opposing him. Timmy lifted his hands and shrugged again, dismissing the subject almost carelessly.

"Whatever. We still need a plan to rescue Tootie, or you'll be building two murder cases against him and I do **not** want anyone else sharing my fate at his hands." he returned and folded his arms over his chest, glaring at the map that Chester brought up while he was talking, "Okay, so Tootie's in the mansion? We won't be able to sneak inside for a rescue mission. He'll be expecting that now and he's still got my mana in that scepter; if we go in now, he'll start blasting away with it and get all of you, and possibly himself as well, seriously hurt."

"We could use a diversion." Trixie insinuated, gesturing over herself with a seductive look on her face that quickly turned to a scowl at the brunet's disapproval.

"No. Last time we did that, you got yourself into a wish fight. We need something big this time. Something that's bound to draw all of his attention and leave him so open, we can just walk into his mansion, pick up Tootie, and walk right out." Timmy mused aloud and jumped as Mark threw his hands into the air with a whoop.

"We can all get Image Fakifiers and transform into creatures of his worst nightmares! Then he will be like a quivering human of fear while we get the Tootie from his dungeons!" he declared and looked around eagerly for applause, "Whaddya think, Brahs? Is it not _brilliant_?" Chip lifted an eyebrow at him, scratching at his goatee in thought.

"Europeans sure are funny people." he remarked, "You mean, go to his mansion in Halloween costumes? That'd only work if we went next Tuesday; that's when Halloween starts up." Trixie shook her head.

"No, Remy closed off access to his mansion when the Dark Spire Project began. Only people he invited could get past the gates, or you guys whenever you did your sneaking into it." she pointed out, "To get him to open his gates to the public and leave him completely vulnerable would take something pretty drastic." Vicky cried out and slammed her fist on the table, laughing maniacally.

"A Halloween party! For the public's attention! That's how we'll do it!" she declared and flashed a shark's grin when all eyes went to her in confusion. "It's perfect! Dimmsdale is split over the Heart, so we'll throw a party in Timmy's honor and invite anyone and everyone to show up! We'll use the Dimmsdale Park as the site and throw a shin-dig that'll feature the return of Chip Skylark!" The singer pumped a fist into the air with a shout of excitement at that. "That'll get the city to stay with Timmy! They'll claim Chip's comeback as a Miracle of the True Heart!"

"How does that help us with rescuing Tootie?" Timmy grumbled, drumming his fingers against the table. Chester puzzled it over, then snapped his fingers with a grin.

"Remy will try to outdo the Timmy Turner Foundation by throwing a bigger, glitzier party! He'll be so busy with schmoozing that he'll never even notice us poking around his mansion!" he exclaimed and pointed at the map, "We'll split into two teams to handle this mission on Halloween. Half of us will handle the party situation, the other half will go into the mansion to get Toots out."

"No." Timmy growled, shaking his head, "That's too many people going there; he's bound to notice that. Most of the team will be at the party to run things, another two or three to infiltrate Remy's party to watch him, another two or three to get into the mansion and rescue Tootie." He counted quickly on one hand and frowned. "I'm going in with the group rescuing Tootie. If Remy breaks away from his own party to cross paths with the rescue team, I'll need to be there to match magic with magic."

"But you will be expected at the party as Timothy Neogene!" Sanjay blurted out in a panic, "You are the chairman of the Timmy Turner Foundation; it will look most bad for you if you are not there to support you!" He stopped and thought over what he just said. "That did not seem to make much sense." he commented idly. Timmy sighed, rubbing his neck again.

"Actually, it made perfect sense. Timothy Neogene has to be in public eye at the party to support Timmy Turner as the Heart. But I still need to be with the rescue team." he muttered, "Or someone equally as strong as me in magical alchemy."

"Too bad you can't be in two places at once, and it would take ages to clone you." A.J. sighed in commiseration. He brightened suddenly. "Hey! What about asking Caleb to build a robot copy of you? The copy could be at the party posing as you, and the real you could be at the rescue!"

"Already thought of it and that won't work either." Timmy muttered, resting his chin on one hand as he sat at the head of the table, a bland expression on his face, "Michael can take my place at a moment's notice, but if Remy runs to stop the rescue and sees me there, he'll wonder how I can be in two places at once. That exposes me and Caleb as being more than who we are to the public, and Caleb won't pull any punches to clear himself of whatever mess comes up because of that." He frowned deeply. "Perfect neutrality; he'll do whatever it takes to protect himself and his mission first, even if it means abandoning a Hero to work without support."

"So we need you in two places at once, but in a way that Remy won't be able to put two and two together and make four." Apollo remarked casually as he flew into the war room, "Hey, did you miss me? Heard what was going down and decided to add my two cents in." Trixie grinned up at her godfather as he settled onto the table by her, polishing his scimitar as though getting ready for a battle. Timmy blinked at him, then rolled his eyes upward in thought.

Timothy Neogene was needed at the party and on the rescue; Michael, his robot copy, could take his place at the Halloween bash easily, but how could he go on the rescue as himself and at the same time, not? Mark suggested a disguise, but what disguise could he use that would let him still use his magic and not be ruined by sudden damage to an alien device?

"Be me and not be me. A me I can be that Remy doesn't know." he murmured to himself, "Not Timmy, not Timothy..." He stopped suddenly, eyes wide with realization. There was another identity he had, one that Remy had never had contact with and had also not been seen in four years! He slammed a hand down and whooped, catching everyone's attention again. "I've got it!" Timmy declared with a grin, a cover story already forming in his head, "Someone else can take my place at the rescue team while I hang out at the party in the park."

"Who? No one else has the power to stand against the aionis scepter!" Chester exclaimed and Timmy grinned wider.

"My other cousin, of course!" he laughed, "Timantha!" And the room erupted into a mix of delighted shouts, startled cries, and fairy laughter.


	14. Chapter 14

14

~Friday, October 27th, Archives of the Twin Blades

Timmy walked down the halls with his godparents still laughing behind him. No amount of scowling and grumbling made them stop, and each time he **did** finally manage to stop them long enough to yell about his plan being perfectly fine, they had only to look at him for another second before bursting into giggles all over again. He eventually gave up sometime after midnight.

"Girly girl! So pretty and flowery and giiirly!" Cosmo sang horribly off-key as Wanda floated by him, howling in laughter and clutching her sides, tears running down her face. Timmy's face burned a bright red as passing Heroes paused to stare at him, baffled looks on their faces.

"Keep it down out here!" Raine Sage declared as she walked down the hallway, an irritated expression crossing her face, "You're near the infirmary; Danny Phantom is still in recovery. Orders from Caleb are that no one enters the sick bay until he awakens." The brunet grumbled under his breath. Yet more things to bring down his mood.

"Can you at least tell me where he is? I need to tell him about my latest plan and get some help on it." he sighed harshly and leaned to one side in an attempt to look around the half-elf, "And how is he? Is Danny getting any better?" Raine lifted her hand to her chin in consideration, gazing at the boy with a softer look.

"Still in a coma, but healing well. The majority of his more severe injuries are reduced to surface wounds. We've surrounded him with ecto crystals to help keep his ectoplasm fully supplied in the process," she reported quietly, "but the regeneration will still take time. Give it a few days more at the most." A sigh and she gestured back down the hallway, in the direction Timmy had come. "Caleb is in the Symphonia exhibit, second floor of the Archive. You'll need to take the elevator down." Timmy glanced over his shoulder, nodding at the directions as another pair of Heroes walked up to Raine and asked her some questions of their own. "I'm sorry; Level Two Heroes are beyond this point. You're looking for the Level Three infirmary down that hall..."

"Thanks, Raine. Good luck with Danny in there." the young immortal finally sighed and walked off, Cosmo and Wanda perching on his shoulders as their laughter finally faded.

* * *

The Symphonia exhibit was one of Caleb's usual spots to hang out at for what the majority of the Heroes called 'Moping Time'. Whenever he got moody, the android would head straight for one of those spots and sit there for hours, sometimes days, gazing off into the distance and lost in whatever thoughts were running in his head.

Timmy found him sitting at the base of one of the statues, a blonde in chef's clothes and sporting a long red cape. The redhead was just staring off again, a slight frown on his face as though he was thinking something over and not liking the results of it.

"Mornin', Caleb." he called out in greeting and Caleb blinked, looking over at the brunet in mild surprise.

"Huh, so there **is** a variation of it that my system doesn't respond to. Interesting." he mused aloud and tilted his head, narrowing his eyes, "So what did you break this time, Timothy?" Timmy grimaced, his fairies taking flight as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Ah, why do you ask that? It's not like I show up here only when I break something!" he griped and Wanda cleared her throat loudly to not-so-discreetly attract attention.

"Hanuman's Rod." she stated and Timmy winced.

"Well, yeah, I guess that broke recently and I didn't replace it yet, so..." he relented and flinched again at Caleb's aggravated sigh, "But that's not the main reason why I'm here this time!" The angel gave him a flat glare and Timmy rubbed the back of his neck again. "Look, the guys and I got this idea on how to rescue Tootie and Romi, and get my mana back. But I need the robot copy of me to fill in for one spot."

"Which one?" Caleb asked, eyebrow lifting, "If you use the Mike copy, you'll give yourself away. Use the Michael and you'll do the same thing." Timmy shook his head adamantly, ignoring Cosmo's renewed 'Girly girl' song.

"Lemme explain it first, okay?" he griped, "I have one more identity that no one knows is actually me. Long ago, I sorta wished myself into being a girl. I named myself Timantha while I spent the day like that. Everyone thinks Timantha is my other cousin, so I can take that identity again and no one will be the wiser." Grinning, he pointed at himself while Caleb stared at him in disbelief. "I'll wish myself into being a girl again and we can use the Michael robot to act as Timothy Neogene during the time I'm a girl. This way I can be in two places at once; Neogene at the Halloween party being staged to reinforce my identity as the Heart of Dimmsdale and be a distraction for Remy, and Timantha on the rescue party going into the Buxaplenty Mansion!"

"And how are you going to explain Timantha having magic as powerful as Timothy's? Hmm?" Caleb questioned, scowling at him. The brunet waved it off, still grinning.

"Got it covered! I'll make a couple of bracelets and claim that I'm using magic jewels." he replied easily, "There's so much magic stuff going on in Dimmsdale that nobody'd think twice about it!" Caleb thought it over briefly, nodding slowly.

"The probability of that working is fairly high. I'll agree to that." he replied and slid off the pedestal, "Let's get to work then. I'll have to activate the Michael duplicate and have him updated on everything you've been doing so he can take your place without any odd discrepancies. While he's downloading the new information, we'll pick up a new staff for you to use and gather the mana shield generators." Here the android smiled smugly, tapping a fingertip against his nose. "The final touches were completed a few hours ago. They just need to be attached to each armor's utility belt and a mana-based reflector shield will be available to your teammates at the press of a button." Timmy lit up at the news and Caleb chuckled. "I'm quite impressed with what I can come up with when I put my mind to it, yes. We're still trying to analyze the schematics for the Fairy Portal, but it seems like it operates similarly to the Fenton Ghost Portal so we'll have to wait for Danny to awaken and be at full health again before we start trying to build a version of our own."

"That's great!" Timmy exclaimed and looked towards his fairy godparents happily, "See? My plan's already working out for us!"

"I dunno, Sport. You said that you never wanted to be a girl again." Wanda replied with a forced laugh, "So..."

"He didn't say 'I wish'!" Cosmo pointed out less than helpfully, smiling widely as Timmy nodded in quick agreement, "If he wants to be a girly, magic-using girl, he can still wish it!"

"Yup! C'mon, Wanda! What could go wrong with that?" the brunet pointed out and she only sighed in resignation, a faint smile on her face as she shrugged.

"Don't say I didn't try to change your mind." she only answered cryptically, "But it seems like Caleb's got the idea of what I mean."

The android was indeed grinning widely, snickering to himself as he headed out the room.

"This is going to be most entertaining." he mused aloud.

* * *

Within the hour, Timmy had in his possession a box with the new mana shield generators for all the magitech armor Team Turner sported and a replica of the Blue Crystal Rod, and was now watching a perfect copy of himself standing at a massive computer station with his bare hand pressed against a flat panel. Eyes closed and perfectly still, the duplicate of Timothy Neogene -called Michael- was in the process of completing his download of all the latest developments going on in the battle to free Dimmsdale from the Dark Spire threat.

There was a second one standing by, dressed in the classic pink outfit Timmy was most comfortable with, known as Mike. He usually took to being a statue in the Dimmsdale exhibit, posing as 'an artist's rendition of what Timmy Turner may have looked like if he had lived to be a young teenager'. Other than that, Mike existed simply to help things run smoothly in the Archives, just like a majority of the other androids in the complex.

Michael finally opened his eyes and pulled his hand away, slipping a blue-black glove back on. Caleb nodded and gestured towards the copy as he headed over to join Timmy.

"He's been brought up to speed based on the reports Danni brought and whatever information I glean on my own time. You'll have to fill in the blanks by telling him all that you've said or done since she left the Ivory Tower." he explained to the brunet, "Just the major events; I doubt he'll need to remember any little details that aren't really relevant to what you're planning." Timmy nodded eagerly, ready to head back home and finish up his preparations there. Caleb paused, then gave that strange smile again. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather have Michael be the Timantha replacement while you remain as you are?" he asked again.

"Caleb, I've got it all planned out! This only works if I become Timantha!" Timmy protested hotly, "I've thought it all out and everything!"

"And I still say you're overlooking one important detail, but it's your afterlife. Do as you wish." the android chuckled, "On another note, when do you plan on attacking the next Spire? You haven't cut off a target from the network recently, right?"

"When Tootie is rescued, we'll isolate the next Spire, Spire Two, and then head in with the virus again. By knocking out the control units and replacing them with A.J.'s fake signals, we can get the Dark Spire to destroy itself for us." Timmy replied.

"I still don't like this." Wanda sighed, twirling her wand in her hands as she looked over at her husband in concern. The green-haired fairy was happily poking at Michael's head, the duplicate simply standing there and ignoring him as he waited for further instructions. "Anti-Cosmo said to stop destroying the Spires because they'll reveal a secret once they've fallen. Something tells me that this secret is going to be very bad for everyone, so..."

"But Wanda! The Spires are even worse!" her godchild blurted out, "If we just let them stay up there, Remy will perfect the nullification field and the whole world could lose fairy magic!"

"We'd also lose mana-based magic. The planet will become sick and wither away." Caleb added and glared at Wanda, "That would violate my vows and I will **not** stand for that. The Spires are going to be destroyed; we'll deal with the matter of this mysterious 'secret' afterwards." The fairy sighed helplessly.

"Fine." she muttered, "Still think it would be better to have another Hero do it for us."

"Well, this should do it for now. We'll head back home and I can make my wish there, then let Michael know of any recent changes." Timmy remarked and looked up at his godparents, "Cosmo, Wanda! I wish we were home, with Michael coming along!"

"Yay! Double the Timmy, double the fun!" Cosmo cheered as he and his wife waved their wands and the group vanished in a burst of smoke. Caleb waved away the excess magic puffs and grinned again.

"Wonder how he'll handle being a girl on the verge of puberty? Ah, what fun that will be." he mused and walked off, humming cheerfully to himself.

* * *

Undisclosed location~

Tootie kicked at the door repeatedly in frustration. Magic of any kind was useless to her now. Though she still had her bracelets, she didn't have her dagger or the Laser Blade, and for her to cast any spell she needed to use a focus. Her weapons had been her focus all along. With them gone, the little mana she had for casting magic remained trapped in her body.

"Stupid, lousy, rich **brat**!" she fumed, slamming the sole of her boot against the metal door again, adding to the multiple dents and scratches that were beginning to cover its surface, "When I get outta here and get armed again, you are **so** gonna pay for _everything_!"

Romi watched her godchild vent and sighed, gazing over at the few items they had been left with. Tootie still wore the magitech armor and belt, but it had been emptied of all its useful gadgets and weaponry. There was a small bag full of something that Timmy had given her, still tied up so it could be that Remy had already peeked inside and deemed whatever was in there not that helpful in escape. A small watch was also left there, to let them know what the time was, but they weren't exactly sure what day it was considering the number of times they had both been put to sleep. The little room they were trapped in had a single bathroom to tend to bare needs, but no spare clothes meant Tootie was stuck with the same outfit she wore under the magitech suit, black tank top and shorts.

Needless to say, Tootie was highly displeased with their... _accommodations_.

"What did Timothy give you anyway?" she finally asked the Goth. Tootie had taken a break from kicking the door to sit against it and wait for the panel beside it to open. That was something they had learned recently; a narrow panel in the wall by the door would open at odd times and a tray of food would slide through it. Being so narrow, the only way a drink could be sent in was in a pouch, so they would also get small transparent plastic packages of water. No utensils; the first time she got her hands on a plastic knife, Tootie had immediately used it to cast _Thunder Arrow_ on the door and break out. The two of them made it as far as the end of the hall before a squad of destroyers blocked off the corridor. One blasted them with a gas that knocked them out and when they awoke, they were back in the room, the door was replaced, and no more trays came with utensils.

"Just some mana crystals he botched up on making." Tootie sighed, folding her arms behind her head as she leaned against the door, "I tried to pull the mana from them back when we were fighting Bender's goons, but I couldn't get it out. So I ran out of magic. Wish I knew how to work them, then I could have enough to sock this door with another spell once I find a new focus." She crawled forward towards the bag and opened it, reaching in to pick out a crystal. "They're pretty soft for crystals. Nothing at all like the ones Caleb has in his body." she added and showed it off to the fairy, "See?"

The 'crystal' was perfectly round and the size of a marble, shimmering iridescently. The core was full of color, swirling like some magical soup trapped in a bubble. It distorted slightly as Tootie pressed on it between her fingers. Romi blinked up at it, eyes wide as she trembled slightly.

"...orb..." she whispered brokenly and snapped back to alertness at Tootie's confused stare, "Ah, well. Um..." She slipped her hands together into her sleeves, hiding them from sight as she tilted her head in consideration. "It's not a mana crystal. That much I know. It's a special kind of magical orb. Timothy must have gotten them from Cosmo and Wanda."

"But Timmy said he made them himself." Tootie pointed out, tipping out a few more of the little pearls from the bag and into her hand. Romi twitched, her eyes glued to the small pile of orbs.

"He couldn't have. Not these kinds of orbs, at least." she insisted. Tootie shrugged, poking at the marbles of color. "A-anyway, to get the magic from them you have to eat them."

"Eat them?" Tootie echoed in disbelief and laughed, "Are you serious?" Romi nodded. "What makes you so sure of that?"

"Fairy World used them as emergency rations for fairy soldiers on the battlefield. When the soldiers ran low on magic from fighting, they would eat these to replenish themselves enough to return to base safely and recover while fresh fairies took their place." the fairy godmother explained, reaching out hesitantly to poke at one herself, "Now, they're mostly used in hospitals and magic-deprived areas as magic boosters to keep up a fairy's strength. In Dimmsdale, something like this would be very helpful to godparents in nullification zones." She finally picked one up and brought it closer to herself, gazing into the swirl of color. "To think Cosmo and Wanda had access to these... why would they run out of magic so often if they could eat these and transfer it into the wands themselves?" Tootie sighed and shook her head.

"They didn't, Romi! Timmy made these the night we took out Spire Three!" she argued and picked up one of the orbs herself, "Well, if these restore magic, then down the hatch it goes!" The fairy looked up in surprise as Tootie popped it into her mouth, chewing experimentally.

"You can't mix magic!" Romi cried and clapped a hand over her own mouth, startled by her outburst. It was too late anyway; Tootie swallowed and tilted her head back with a smile as a faint glow washed over her before fading.

"Mmm, tastes like candy." she murmured and opened her eyes, looking down at her free hand, "And I feel more mana flowing through me, so it worked! Want to give one a try, Romi? Might help you recover from passing through that nullifier field." The fairy blinked up at her in shock, then shook herself off and looked down at the orb she still had in one hand.

"Well... I suppose there isn't any harm in it." she murmured and steeled herself before shoving the orb into her mouth. Her cheeks ballooned out in an unladylike manner as she bit down on it, then slowly went back to normal as the orb shrank to a more manageable size.

"Sucking out the juice from the middle of the candy? Cheater." Tootie teased, laughing as Romi lifted both hands to hide her mouth in embarrassment, a pink flush coming over her face as she lit up with the same glow her godchild had only moments ago.

"It's very sweet." she finally said after swallowing the rest of the orb, "But there's a slightly bitter aftertaste. The orbs Fairy World produces are sweet and don't leave an aftertaste." Tootie blinked in surprise.

"Really? I didn't notice an aftertaste." she remarked and picked out another one to taste it more carefully. She concentrated on the flavor as she chewed and swallowed, then shook her head. "Nope. Sweet, but no weird aftertaste. Maybe you just got a botched one? Or is it different because a human made these and not a fairy?"

"That might be it. You wouldn't taste it because you're human, too." Romi replied, but she still sounded uncertain. Tootie sighed and dropped the rest of the orbs back into the bag.

"Feels late and my legs are tired from all that kicking." she muttered, "I'm gonna take a shower and crash for the night. You feeling better now, Romi?" The fairy nodded, silent as she considered the bag on the floor, a faintly suspicious look on her face.

* * *

Neogene Manor~

"...and if Danni calls you 'Lover', be annoyed. I hate that nickname!" Timmy declared as he paced back and forth in front of Michael. The android sat at a desk in the brunet's bedroom, watching him in confusion as Timmy recounted all the most important things he could think of.

"Oookay..." Michael remarked, glancing at the fairy couple beside him, "Is that everything? I got data on Mark Chang, Chip Skylark, Vicky, Anti-Cosmo..." Timmy nodded.

"Seems about it." he agreed and sighed, "Man, it's so late, it's early. I want to just get to bed and be done but I still need to finish that last wish." Cosmo and Wanda snickered behind their hands, and Timmy shot them both a glare. "I still don't find it all that funny, guys. That first time, you turned me into a girl _without_ my permission! Using the words 'I wish' and 'girl' from my mouth like that doesn't give you a good excuse in my head!"

"But this time, you're actually asking for it!" Cosmo declared and laughed harder, rolling around on the table as Michael lifted his arm to avoid getting bumped into. Timmy opened his mouth to argue that, halting at the sound of his phone going off.

"Who's calling this late?" he wondered aloud, pulling out his cell phone and flipping it open, "Hello?"

_"I'm sorry to wake you up, Timothy, but..."_ the feminine voice on the other end apologized.

"Ah, no, I was already awake, Mint. That's okay. What do you need?" Timmy asked sheepishly.

_"It's about Anti-Cosmo. He's showing signs of waking. I thought you'd like to know."_ Mint reported softly and the brunet lit up in joy.

"He is? Thanks so much! I'll be right there!" he exclaimed and hung up, turning to his godparents excitedly, "Guys! Anti-Cosmo's waking up! I wish we were at the Ivory Tower!"

"You wanna take him too?" Wanda asked, a concerned look on her face as she jerked her thumb at the android. Michael stood and folded his arms over his chest.

"May as well. I'll need to add new data to myself now that he's awake." he remarked and Timmy sighed, nodding.

"Yeah, I wish all of us were at the Ivory Tower." he amended his wish and the group vanished in a burst of magic smoke.

* * *

Ivory Tower~

Mint stood by, looking over the instruments as Timmy sat next to Anti-Cosmo's bed, Anti-Wanda perched on his shoulder, both of them anxiously waiting for the anti-fairy to wake up. Cosmo and Wanda floated nearby, expressions on their faces that were an odd mix of jealousy and concern. Michael stood to one side, watching the scene impassively.

Finally, Anti-Cosmo flinched and slowly opened his eyes, looking around himself in confusion before settling his gaze on Timmy and Anti-Wanda.

"Welcome back, Anti-Cosmo." Timmy murmured tearfully, smiling down at him, "We missed you." The anti-fairy struggled to sit up, accepting his help silently before settling back against the pillows with a sigh. "How are you feeling?"

"Like wreaking lovely mayhem across the land, but I'll settle for tormenting that little cur of a boy." Anti-Cosmo grumbled and managed a smile as his wife flew down to hug him, "Easy, love; still have a bruise or two that haven't quite healed yet." He sighed again and looked back up at the brunet. "I suppose you didn't heed my warning and destroyed another Spire. Am I right?" Timmy's guilty expression was answer enough and the anti-fairy clicked his tongue reproachfully. "You're not very good at following directions either. You take after your father far too much."

"What did you mean when you said the Spires falling would show the truth?" Timmy asked instead, ignoring the veiled insult for now, "What truth? How could it be worse than leaving the Spires up?" Behind him, Cosmo and Wanda tensed, staring between their godchild and their anti-selves.

"It's something that was very well hidden since..." Anti-Cosmo replied carefully, then smiled deviously, "Well, since before you came to be as Timmy Turner. You shouldn't worry too much about it as long as you remain as you are. So, tell me, dear Timothy. Who are you?" Timmy frowned at the question.

"I'm Timothy Tiberius Turner, using the name Timothy Neogene. I'm a Hero for Dimmsdale, with only good inside me." he declared almost arrogantly, "I'm human and immortal, cursed with eternal life with the potential for eternal pain. I'm Cosmo and Wanda's fairy godchild and the Heart of Dimmsdale. I'm the leader of Team Turner and cousin to Danny Fenton, who is leader of Team Phantom. I'm just an average boy that no one understood, and now I am The One Who Stands Beyond Death's Reach. That good enough to say who I am?" Anti-Cosmo smiled wider, his arm around Anti-Wanda's shoulders as she curled next to him happily.

"Almost perfect. You still refuse to accept you have darkness within you, which will cost you if you don't get over it, but all in all, not bad." he replied and winked, "If that is truly how you see yourself, then there shouldn't be any more worries. The Spires can be destroyed, but only if you do it with your little friends. Anything else will raise some rather powerful eyebrows." Timmy snorted and laughed.

"Well, it's not like I can just have any old superhero fly in and pick 'em out like weeds! 'Course I'm gonna tear 'em down with the gang!" the brunet agreed and waved at Michael, "Oh, and I wanted to introduce you to my robot copy. This is Michael; he's gonna be posing as me for a few days while I go undercover as Timantha." The android waved as Anti-Cosmo nodded in greeting, then looked up at the brunet in confusion.

"Timantha?" he echoed and Timmy rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Well, see, what happened is that Tootie and Romi got kidnapped when we took out Spire Three and we're pretty sure they're being held at Remy's mansion. To distract Remy so me and some new members of Team Turner can rescue her, we're throwing a party in Dimmsdale Park on Halloween. Remy will probably open his mansion to do a counter-party and I can only go in as a totally different person from either Timmy Turner or Timothy Neogene to keep him from finding out what we're doing." he explained in a rush, "So the only identity I have left is a girl named Timantha. But everyone thinks Timantha is another cousin of mine so I needed to have Michael pose as Timothy Neogene so I can be Timantha and no one will suspect anything and so no one can accidentally blow my cover if Remy tries to stop me and the gang on the rescue."

The anti-fairies began laughing, which set off the fairies again, and Timmy sat there with an annoyed look on his face, arms folded over his chest.

"Geez, I still don't get what's so funny about it." he grumbled.

* * *

The group left after confirming that Anti-Cosmo was to stay in the infirmary a day or so longer to fully recover. By the time they returned to the manor, Timmy was far too tired to make the wish to become Timantha and decided to do it in the morning. Michael simply shrugged and headed out to a spare room to sort through his new data and get it all filed away neatly in his head.

Morning came late for Timmy, as having stayed up so late meant he overslept far longer than necessary. The phone ringing on his bedside table finally got him up and he growled a greeting into it as he sat up in bed, pajamas a rumpled mess.

_"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty. It's noon."_ Michael announced cheerfully. Timmy growled again, making a vague attempt at finding his own clock to confirm the time. _"I suggest making your wish now. I've already taken your place at the Ivory Tower with the rest of your team. We just finished up a broadcast announcement of the Timmy Turner Foundation's Halloween Blast Party. Should be airing on television and radio about now. We paid for good commercial time."_

"You did what? And when?" Timmy blurted out, snapping fully awake.

_"I'm also getting a few looks in regards to my lack of Cosmo and Wanda. I don't know what you plan to do about that, but I've already set up your cover story. Timantha is late in arrival because she's sleeping off her jet lag. Apparently, since she has no fairy godparents of her own, she has to travel the normal way; on a plane."_

"Darn it, darn it, darn it!" the brunet griped, scrambling out of bed and rushing to a full-length mirror hung on one wall. He raked his fingers through his hair with one hand, the other still clutching the phone to his ear. "I can wish Cosmo and Wanda to you to act like they're granting wishes for you, but why the heck didn't you warn me about all this sooner?"

_"I tried to wake you up earlier, but you threatened to have me turned into sack of concrete mix, so I just left you to sleep in. The party had to be announced immediately, or there wouldn't be enough time for Remy to do his counter-announcement and party planning."_ Michael replied with a faint sigh of exasperation, _"This was your idea, after all. I'm just doing what you told me. I couldn't wait for you to get up to start; it would've been too late by then."_

"Right, right. It's Friday, right? We should get lots of views on that commercial, then, if it airs in the middle of all those drama shows." Timmy muttered, still trying to straighten his hair, "That leaves us with four days to get the party set up, plan the rescue and get prepared for it all."

_"Three and a half, actually. Anyway, I'll see you at the Ivory Tower, then?"_

"Yeah, I'll be there in a bit, as Timantha."

_"Good. Lunch will be served shortly."_ With that, the phone hung up and Timmy blinked at it in surprise.

"But robots can't eat." he muttered and smacked his forehead in irritation, "Ugh! Stupid! Robots can't eat! His cover's gonna be blown 'cuz of a lousy sandwich!" He tossed the phone onto the bed and took a deep breath. "Cosmo! Wanda!" he shouted and the fairies appeared in a blast of magic smoke, clad in pink nightgown and green pajamas, hair in curlers and clutching a nickel like a teddy bear.

"Well, good morning to you too, Sport." Wanda growled sleepily, glaring at the brunet from behind her face mask. The couple waved their wands, instantly making themselves over in their usual clothes and hairstyles for the day.

"Sorry." Timmy apologized sheepishly, rubbing his head, "I'm late for a lot of things already, so I need to make my wishes to get this all set up."

"Yay! Girly time!" Cosmo declared and laughed, kicking his legs in the air. The brunet rolled his eyes.

"Right. Okay, here goes." he muttered and inhaled slowly, bringing up a calming air around himself, then releasing it with a slow exhale. "I wish I was a girl! A girl named Timantha!" he declared, thrusting his finger into the air in a wide sweep.

"One instant sex change, comin' up!" Wanda called out, she and her husband twirling their wands before pointing them at the brunet, blasting him with fairy magic. Smoke billowed out from the explosion, filling the room and leaking out the windows. The fairies waved their hands in front of their faces, looking around for their godchild worriedly. "Timmy? Are you okay?" Wanda called uncertainly.

"I'm okay!" the young immortal declared in a far more feminine voice than before, "Ack! My voice! I sound like a girl!"

"That's 'cuz you ARE a girl!" Cosmo laughed, waving his wand to finish dissipating the smoke and reveal the now female magic-user standing before them in pink pajamas. Timantha blinked up at them, then spun around to look into the mirror again, hands flying up to her face as a smile spread.

"I am! I'm a girl! This is great! This is perfect! This is...!" she exclaimed, then glanced downward and froze, an expression of horror replacing her excited look. Color drained from her face a second before she shrieked, leaping back from the mirror with her hands as far away from her body as possible, _"Aaaiiieeee! What is this?"_

"They're called breasts." Wanda grumbled, rolling her eyes, "Girls have them at about this age. We tried to warn you, us and Caleb."

Timantha hugged herself, trying not to think of what she felt under her arms as she zipped towards the bathroom in a panic, slamming the door shut after her. Another shriek and Wanda sighed again.

"And girls don't have **that** either." she added loudly. Cosmo fell out of the air in hysterics, rolling around on the floor.

"I can't go out like this! I'm a freak!" Timantha yelled through the door, "How am I supposed to live like this?" Wanda waved her wand, poofing her godchild back into the bedroom. The brunet was still clad in her pajamas, shaking as she clutched handfuls of her now waist-length hair and pulled it around herself like a cloak.

"You'll live like a girl. You wished it, we dished it. Remember, this was **your** idea!" Wanda pointed out and bodily hoisted Cosmo up off the floor, "Out, Cosmo! It's girl bonding time and you have to go do something not stupid in our room!"

"Okay!" the dapper fairy agreed cheerfully and was chucked out of Timantha's bedroom with a 'Whee!' of delight. Once he was gone, Wanda turned back to the girl with a sigh and waved her wand again, this time poofing in a large cardboard box labeled 'Girl Clothes' and setting it on the bed. Timantha stepped over to it and opened it gingerly. Her face burned a bright red as she picked out the first piece of clothing she saw.

"Wandaaaa..." she moaned in agony and the fairy godmother sighed in exasperation, folding her arms over her chest as she tapped her foot in the air.

"You want to be a girl for your plan? Then you're gonna have to learn to put on a bra!" she declared in a no-nonsense tone, "You wished for this!"

* * *

Ivory Tower~

Michael paced the floor in a believable anxiousness as the majority of Team Turner waited eagerly nearby. As Timmy had predicted, every member of the group bought the story that had been put together in the span of a few minutes; to them Michael was Timmy Turner posing as Timothy Neogene and always had been. Timantha would be a totally new member joining them for the purpose of rescuing Tootie and Romi, after which she would then return to her own Hero duties in some far off country or whatever.

"Dude. Flowers?" Chester asked with a laugh as he took in the sight of A.J. twitching nervously in place, a large bouquet of daisies in his hands.

"She didn't seem to like the dead frog last time, so I'm going with a tried and true classic." the boy genius replied out of the corner of his mouth, "Now shut up; you're making me more nervous! It's been ages since I saw her!"

"If you want to impress my best girl friend, you need to do better than daisies from the corner shop." Trixie huffed, eyebrow raised, "Roses would have been a good bet." She curled her fingers over her mouth to hide a smirk. "...Or the latest issue of Skull Squisher..." she added under her breath.

"How many cousins do you have anyway, Timmy?" Elmer asked the brunet in confusion, "And why don't they live here in Dimmsdale? Wouldn't it be easier than having them all over the place?"

"They like where they live just fine, I guess." Michael replied with a sheepish grin, rubbing his head, "And I've got about four cousins that I know of for sure. Cousins Danny and Jazz Fenton, Cousin Timantha Turner, and Cousin Rudy Tabootie; all of them are Heroes of their own towns." He waved a finger around in the air, the smile still on his face, "Danny and Jazz are still trying to cover for Danny Phantom, and Rudy's skills are pretty much useless here since we use magic and not chalk, so Timantha's the only shot we have at getting somebody past Remy."

The teleporter nearby glowed suddenly and all eyes turned towards it in eager anticipation. A beam of light shot up from it, the image of a teen girl and two floating fairies forming in it. When it faded, Cosmo and Wanda put on smiles and waved weakly at the group before fluttering over to sit on Michael's shoulders.

"A.J., you look like a fish." Chester teased out of the corner of his mouth as the group let out cheers and greetings to the brunette that stepped off the teleporter. The girl was clad in a pink and white blouse with matching pink skirt, white stockings and shoes, and a pair of dainty white gloves. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail, a large pink ribbon holding the rest of her hair in place and topping her head with a bow. Round pink earrings completed her look.

"Um... hi?" Timantha greeted in return, waving just as weakly as the fairies had before her, "So... you guys are Team Turner, huh? I'm Timantha. Nice to meet you." A.J. clapped his mouth shut and hid his blushing face behind the bouquet.

"She got prettier." he mumbled, giving Chester a sidelong glare as the blonde nudged him teasingly.

"Cross yer fingers she ain't got a boyfriend yet, then." Chester returned and stepped forward to shake the girl's hand. "Yup, that's right! We're the Others! Well, most of us, at least. I'm Chester, that's A.J., Elmer, Sanjay, and Trixie. We make up the Others, which is like the heart of Team Turner. Vicky, Mark Chang, and Chip are getting stuff set up for the Halloween party so they're not here yet." He faltered at introducing Apollo, who was giving Timantha a glare that spoke volumes for what he thought of her. "And this is... um..."

"A fairy godparent. I know. I'm an ally of Fairy World so I can know about them even though I don't have one." Timantha answered quickly, fidgeting under the glare, "Nice to meet you, too, um..."

"Apollo." the fairy godfather grumbled. He said nothing else, which didn't help the young immortal relax at all.

"Timantha! Girlfriend! I've missed you soooo much!" Trixie declared, shoving Chester aside to throw her arms around the pink-clad teen in a huge hug. Michael clapped a hand over his face as the fairy couple snickered. The plan was moving along unexpectedly well, despite the shakiness of being confronted by a fairy godparent who appeared to be considerably sharper than the rest of the group.

"I've... missed you... too... Trixie!" Timantha managed to wheeze out from the crushing embrace, "Air!"

* * *

It took the group a few minutes to settle down in the conference room so that Timantha could get 'caught up' on what was going on. A.J. presented her with the bouquet, then squeaked and scurried to his spot at the table, sinking in his seat as far as he could go. She wasn't quite sure what to make of that, just sighed in relief that it wasn't a dead frog he tried giving her. Those things were still gross. As the android had said in the phone call, lunch was being served to them now, and Timantha twitched nervously as a plate was set before Michael. Cosmo and Wanda glanced at each other with the same apprehension before giving their true godchild a helpless look. Before arriving at the Ivory Tower, Timantha had made her second wish for the day, for Cosmo and Wanda to act as Michael's godparents until Tootie and Romi were returned to the group. She had wanted to make a wish to help the android pass more easily as human, but wasn't sure if doing so would cause any weird glitches in Michael.

She hoped he had a good excuse to skip lunch.

But to the shock of all three parties, Michael simply picked up the sandwich and bit into as naturally as though he'd always eaten meals.

"What's the matter, Timantha? Surprised that a dead kid can still eat food?" Trixie teased and laughed as the brunette shook herself back to alertness.

"Ah, well, uh... yeah, kinda." she stammered to cover herself, "I don't really know all of what happened to... C-cousin Timmy, so most of this is still, like, new." Cosmo and Wanda had recovered a bit more quickly than she had and quickly slipped into their roles of chattering and scolding Michael for getting a late lunch and running off without 'his' fairy godparents, the android looking appropriately abashed and trying his best to appease their humorous wraths.

"But you know enough to be able to help us out, right?" Chester asked worriedly and Timantha nodded quickly. "Okay, so now that that's done, let's get to planning out what we're gonna do today. School doesn't open until Monday, since Dimmsdale's still freaking out over the Spire falling."

"Everyone's got a mana shield generator now. I got the package from one of Caleb's robots earlier today and passed them out to the gang." Michael explained for Timantha's benefit, grinning widely, "With those, we won't have to worry as much about anything really dangerous hitting us and it's a quick way for everyone to get their own personal _Boltzman's Shield_ without me having to run around like a maniac casting it." Trixie stood up, clutching a few sheets of paper in her hands as a determined expression came over her face.

"We worked really hard on this yesterday, Chester, so I hope it helps you out tonight." she told the blonde, "Apollo, A.J. and I put together as much as we could for reopening Timmy's case, using the files from the Black Hound disc and the pictures taken of the weird thing that was buried in the playground." She held the papers out and Chester accepted them, reading them over carefully. "Will it be enough to get Timmy's case reopened as a murder investigation?"

Michael twitched slightly and Timantha smacked herself over the head mentally. _That_ had totally slipped her mind! All the times Team Turner had made contact with Caleb and the Archives, and no one had made mention of Timmy having died as a result of a murder. Until this moment, the angelic android and all his creations believed he was a victim of circumstance, and acted accordingly.

"Looks like this'll do it. Thanks a lot, you guys!" Chester replied cheerfully, "With this, we'll nail Remy for sure!"

Another twitch. Timantha was finding the idea of staying a girl more ideal with each passing moment. Caleb wouldn't punish a girl, right? Right?

"Next is putting fliers up for the Halloween party in the park. We have a couple of boxes already printed, but we won't get the big stock until tomorrow." the blonde went on, tucking the sheets into a folder that he stashed in his backpack, "So we should get started on passing those out today and posting some wherever we can get Remy to see it."

"We can try the malls, arcades, anyplace that Remy is bound to show up at." Michael agreed readily, "We'll plaster them all over the place! With that many posters of my face for the party, he won't be able to resist having to throw one of his own to stay in the game!" The Others cheered, finishing their lunches more quickly so as to get started. "You guys go on ahead. I gotta let Timantha know what she can do to help out for now." he added, "She's our secret weapon, like Mark is, so we can't let Remy know that the two of them on our side just yet." Chester threw him a thumb's up as the rest of the teens began heading out, Apollo poofing into Trixie's pendant after giving Cosmo and Wanda another suspicious glance.

"All right! We're starting at the Wall-to-Wall Mart, so meet us there when you can! Might as well get Mark to come back here so we can keep him undercover and junk, right?" he pointed out and hurried after the rest of the Others. Once they were gone, Michael whirled around and glared furiously at Timantha.

"**Murdered?** You were _murdered_? Why didn't you tell Caleb about this change sooner?" he snapped.

"I **forgot**!" Timantha shot back and the android threw his hands up in exasperation.

"_How_ could you forget to mention that you were purposely killed by Remial Buxaplenty?" he exclaimed and turned his glare on the fairies, "And you two didn't correct him on this?"

"We forgot!" Cosmo piped in helpfully, rubbing the back of his head with a laugh as Wanda smacked her hand over her face.

"This complicates things." Michael sighed, "A murdered Hero... steps will need to be taken to bring justice about, and security for the Ivory Tower and your friends will have to be increased to cope with this new information, moreso since Remial has your mana in his possession..."

"No." Timantha growled, attempting to fold her arms over her chest. She still wasn't quite used to having something in the way of that so she planted her hands on her hips instead, "No changes! You guys changed up things here enough as it is with the S-List and all! Caleb said that Dimmsdale's problems had to be dealt with by Dimmsdale Heroes, right? So butt out and let us do it our way!" Michael sighed again, more harshly.

"But the fact you got murdered means that Caleb's protection of the Heroes _can_ be compromised!" he told the brunette and gestured erratically, "Don't you get it? If you were able to be killed off by some punk kid while under Caleb's jurisdiction of a Hero, then that means we're not doing the best we can to keep you all safe and alive to continue the lines! First Danny Phantom, now you..." He covered his eyes with one hand, groaning softly, "We're just not able to keep up as well anymore. So many Heroes and so few fully functioning artificial mages... We need you to tell us everything that's going on so we can be better guardians. How the heck can we do that if you 'forget' to tell us things that change everything we know about a situation?" Timantha shrugged helplessly and the brunet shook his head. "I'll report in on this later, and I'll be taking a copy of the Black Hound disc and any other records you have about this too. Caleb needs to know, not just to archive it, but to improve on how he's keeping his promises."

"Fine, but only if you tell me how the heck you were able to eat a sandwich." Timantha argued, jabbing a finger at the tip of the android's nose, "Caleb can't eat; none of the other robots I've ever seen can eat! How did you pull that off?"

"Modification. I have a small incinerator that was recently installed." Michael replied smartly, patting his stomach, "Caleb's latest upgrade; I'm testing the prototype for him since I'm going to be actively posing as a human. If it works out well, the vital androids and Caleb himself will all get one installed too." Timantha blinked at him and sighed in exasperation, looking over at Cosmo and Wanda with a flat glare. They merely shrugged and smiled weakly; what magic didn't fix right away, technology was stepping up to do the work instead.

"Great. I'm living with the Bicentennial Man here." she griped, "So Mark will be coming back here? You'd better send him back to the dump instead. He hates clean places and he'll be able to relax better in the comforts of his ship than here." She picked up the bouquet and handed it to the android, "Put these away. I have no clue what the heck these are for. Meantime, while you guys deal with the posters, I'm going to go and check on Anti-Cosmo. Maybe he can tell me more about what he discovered about the Spires." Michael nodded and hurried off with the flowers. Cosmo and Wanda hesitated in following after him.

"I don't like the idea of you being alone with Anti-Cosmo for any reason, Sweetie." Wanda murmured worriedly, "You know he likes to pull fast ones to get loose and cause all kinds of bad luck. With all the negativity around because of Remy's speech, he's bound to be back to full health by now."

"Yeah, and then he'll get right to making me feel even more stupid!" Cosmo wailed, clutching his wand tightly, "Why can't we stay here and make fun of you?" Wanda jabbed him with a frown and he grunted comically before holding his stomach and amending himself, "I mean, look after you!" Timantha only shook her head, pointing at the door.

"I wished it..." she remarked warningly and the couple sighed.

"...and we dish it." Wanda relented, "But at least promise you'll be alert and careful around Anti-Cosmo!"

"I'll be fine! Now go and keep my cover already!" the brunette exclaimed, throwing up her arms as the fairies poofed away, "Geez! Whatever happened to TGIF?"


	15. Chapter 15

15

Remy straightened his tie with a smug grin as he preened before his bedroom window. So many victories were in the bag for him, he was certain of it! His mastery over the aionis scepter holding Timothy's magic was growing steadily, Dimmsdale's fear over the falling Spires was priming them for running towards a new Heart, Timothy himself was out of the picture and Timmy Turner would be a thing of the past. He chuckled softly to himself, gazing into the swirling mana trapped within the glass sphere.

"Very soon now, **I'll** be the Heart of Dimmsdale." he purred and the smile grew wider, "And when the nullification field is completed and the National Spires are built, I'll become the Heart of the World!" The blonde spun around then, grinning up at his fairy godfather, "That's it, Juandissimo! My ultimate wish! I've finally discovered it!"

_"Que?"_ the Latino fairy questioned hollowly, staring at him as though the boy had gone mad, though he was pretty sure that he was borderline insane already. All anyone needed to do to push him over the edge was tell him that Timothy Neogene, the immortal mana manipulator, was really Timmy Turner, and Remy would be reduced to a frothing mass of shot nerves and nonsensical babbling. Juandissimo glanced down at the orb still in Remy's hands. Perhaps the blonde hadn't noticed in all his uses and maybe he was being a little bit more paranoid than usual, but didn't that thing look a little smaller than it did before?

"My ultimate wish, Juandissimo! Pay attention!" Remy growled and the fairy snapped his gaze back, "If I become the Heart of the World, everyone would live to adore and worship **me**! I would be the only one to bring light and life to their miserable existence" He hurried to the balcony and Juandissimo rushed after him worriedly, but all the boy did was spread his arms to encompass the city. "For all the times I was ignored, for all the power that Turner brat held in life and in death, I will reap the greatest revenge!" The fairy gave him a warning glare.

"If you say that you'll become like a god to these people, _mi amigo_, then you'll just set yourself up for a very nasty failure later." Juandissimo pointed out bluntly, poofing in a sheet of paper with some typing on it, "Villain rule number thirty-six." Remy threw up a hand in dismissal.

"Whatever. Like those things even apply to me." he retorted and headed back into his room, "Come, Juandissimo! Let's go out and see how this town, **my** town, is faring in having me elected the new Heart of Dimmsdale."

* * *

Apparently, not that well. Remy gripped his scepter tightly in a fury as he watched televisions in an electronics store show a commercial for the Timmy Turner Foundation. Lo and behold, there was Timothy Neogene again, looking as though he **didn't** get buried under tons of junk and scrap metal.

_"It's getting to be that time of the year, everyone! Let's take our minds off all this misery and do something fun and exciting in memory of the Heart of Dimmsdale!"_ Timothy exclaimed brightly in the commercial, waving a hand towards the Dimmsdale Park where several members of the Others stood and waved their own arms excitedly, putting on smiles so big you'd swear their teeth were about to fall out. _"The Timmy Turner Foundation will be hosting an open Halloween Blast Party right here in Dimmsdale Park! Admission is free and anyone can join in the fun! Rides, shows, games, a haunted house with spooky ghosts, and a special show that can only be brought to you by the supporters of the one true Heart!"_

Remy wanted to just smash those TVs right then and there. His fingers twitched over the mana orb.

_"Join us on Halloween night for a celebration of a lifetime! And remember..."_ Timothy gave the camera a smile that just dripped sweetness and goodwill, _"It's up to us to keep going on each day. Live life with hope and joy no matter what. It's what Timmy would have wanted for us."_

And the storefront display exploded in Remy's fury, gold-colored flames flickering madly as they burned the multiple sets. He stalked away, grumbling under his breath as Juandissimo flinched at the wreckage, trotting beside him in the guise of a purple ferret.

"Remy, _mi amigo_, I don't think that will be earning you any points in your attempts to take the title." he pointed out cautiously. The blonde ground his teeth together, gripping the scepter tightly.

"How dare he pull some wretched stunt like this! Trying to buy up the votes with a stupid Halloween party... who does he think he is?" he hissed, "Like that's even going to work!" A group of pretty cheerleaders walked past him as he continued storming along down the sidewalk, their voices a mess of chatter and gossip and giggles.

"So, are you, like, going to that Halloween Party in the park?" one asked the rest of the clique.

"Oh, totally! For sure!" the gaggle of girls replied in empty-headed glee, "That kid was right; we sooo need something to cheer us up and, like, didn't Timmy Turner just totally like Halloween and stuff?"

"We should totally check it out, for sure. Anything for the Heart of Dimmsdale!" another of the girls agreed and they headed off with even more giggles, practically floating in eagerness and excitement.

Juandissimo watched them leave, then turned a worried look up at his godchild. Remy had stopped at the sound of the gossip and was currently gnawing on the scepter, one eye twitching in fury as his teeth scraped the metal. Oh, that wretched, wretched undead mongrel! He was _cheating_! And after all his hard work convincing the public to consider him the new Heart!

"Fine!" Remy finally spat out, pulling the scepter away as the orb flared in response to his anger, "If that's the way he wants to play this little game, then I'll play too! I'll throw a party the likes of which the Turner Foundation can never hope to match!" He spun around and pointed at his fairy godfather, causing Juandissimo to jump reflexively, half-expecting some portion of the orb's magic to lash out at him from the motion. "I wish we were home! I have to plan the greatest Halloween party ever!"

* * *

The 'greatest Halloween party ever' was looking to be a costly affair. Remy had butlers and servants racing all over the manor, hugging pages of party ideas, sample party favors, costumes, pamphlets and brochures. With each smattering of ideas that he rejected, Remy had some random piece of furniture explode as an example to try again and try better. Juandissimo had long given up on waiting for the servants to leave before poofing in a new sofa or chair or anything. They were far too busy prostrating and begging for their lives from Remy and his smoking scepter to bother looking at the disguised Juandissimo and his little wand.

"I wonder how long that commercial has been playing." the blonde mused aloud at one point, holding out a sheet of party ideas for a leisurely look-over. His fairy lifted his head in ferret form, looking up at him with a confused expression. "They must have planned this ever since my address to the city. Whoever this Hounder person is backing them, he must be a quick thinker to concoct such schemes so quickly."

"He does have that ability, _si_. But you will find a much better idea. You are young; Hounder is not." Juandissimo pointed out carefully. Remy snorted; in his mind, youth was second to power and power was something that Hounder seemed to have in spades. Too bad wishes won't work against the man. He'd learned that from many failed attempts and a few searches through Da Rules.

"It doesn't matter. Once the National Spires are in place, **I** will have _all_ the power in the world. And with this," the boy remarked, idly shaking the scepter while still perusing the list, "I need not fear anything anymore. Let Neogene try to keep that dead brat on his pedestal. It will all come crashing down on him soon enough. You'll see." He went silent as he went on reading, then sat up with wide eyes, staring at the paper in his hand like it had suddenly grown a mouth and was whispering the secrets of life to him. "That's it! That's it, that's it, that's it!" Remy cried exultantly, leaping from his chair. Juandissimo gave him another wary expression and the boy shook the page at him. "This is how I'll beat those ragamuffins at their game!" he declared, "Come! We've got work to do!"

"You mean **I** have work to do because you've got more wishes in mind." the fairy sighed, leaping down from the table and following Remy out the door.

* * *

Ivory Tower~

Timantha sat in her chair with a pout and a half-glare, all aimed at Anti-Cosmo as he continued his peal of laughter at yet another appearance of the now female mana manipulator. She was beginning to get a little tired of this reaction to her, and even worse was the fact that this kind of thing could possibly blow her cover to everyone.

"Are you done yet?" she growled after a minute. Anti-Cosmo seemed to wind down, wiping away a tear as he held up one finger towards her. Another bit of mad cackling and laughter, during which Timantha vowed to conjure a butterfly net when he least expected it and hand him off to Caleb for tormenting, and the anti-fairy finally calmed himself down.

"Ahhh, what a pleasant way to start the day. A visit from the dear little immortal in a skirt, ha ha!" he remarked brightly and gave Timantha a devilish smile, "I expect you're here for additional information, yes?"

"About the Spires, yeah." the brunette confirmed with a nod, "You said that tearing them down reveals a truth, but it won't matter if I know who I am. Why would that matter? Do the Spires have something to do with me or something?" Anti-Cosmo frowned then, mirroring Timantha's off-put pout as he sat back in bed, folding his arms over his chest. Anti-Wanda was out with the other anti-fairies, gathering up negative energy to help him fully regain his strength. The stream of anti-fairies had grown speedier with the infusion of chaos in the streets due to Remy's speech, so it was suspected that he was actually the reason why Anti-Cosmo's recovery was sped up. At the rate they were going, Timantha was sure their leader would be up and causing misery again in no time.

"You are such a stubborn boy... girl." Anti-Cosmo muttered, correcting himself just as quickly, "I've already told you; as long as you are who you say you are, the Spires have nothing to do with you. Don't try to change yourself, lest the fall of the next Spire be a greater event than it should be." Timantha blinked, a blank expression of incomprehension on her face. He groaned softly, pulling a hand over his face. "Never mind it, Timothy! Just know that you are perfectly free to demolish the blasted things as long as you are certain of your identity as it stands now!" he griped, "Now, no more talk of their secret! It no longer pertains to you! Speak of other things, like this wretched festivity you're planning to use as a distraction."

"The Halloween party?" Timantha questioned and rolled her eyes upward in thought, "Well, we've got the commercials for it airing already, and Michael's gonna be hosting it as me with Cosmo and Wanda covering the fact that he's not really me. That should be enough to get Remy to open up his mansion to throw a counter-party." She smiled and pointed at herself with a smug grin. "Then I'll be able to get in like this and Remy won't know who I am at all. I'll be on the rescue team to get Tootie and Romi out of his mansion." she finished proudly.

Anti-Cosmo gave the young immortal another glare which spoke volumes for what he thought of her plan. Timantha withered a little in her seat. Why the heck was he glaring at her like that for? It was a _good_ plan! Wasn't it?

"Timothy, correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Remial's mansion come fully equipped with anti-magic devices?" the anti-fairy growled. The brunette blinked wide blue eyes at him, looking as innocent as she could possibly be. "And you've been around Cosmo and Wanda this entire time; it stands to reason that you are now adapted to fairy-like qualities." Timantha managed a smile, wide and as sincere in its innocence as any politician's. "The moment you attempt to breach his defenses to rescue the girls, you'll be lambasted with anti-magic waves. You'll lose all power, crumple to a weakened little ball and reveal to all around you that you are not simply a little girl from out of state, but their ignoble leader in female form." Anti-Cosmo pointed out dryly. Timantha blinked again, scratching her head.

"Oh... I hadn't thought of that." she remarked honestly and the anti-fairy face-palmed in irritation.

"Of course you wouldn't." he groused under his breath before gazing up at Timantha with a stern expression, "For this to truly work, you'll need immunity to the anti-magic devices housed within the Buxaplenty residence. And immunity for you means acquiring anti-fairy traits." The brunette groaned softly.

"Ah, man. You mean I'm gonna be stuck with having you around again." she complained half-heartedly before grinning at Anti-Cosmo, "Well, at least you saved me the trouble of having to deal with this later!" The anti-fairy snorted at her words, failing to hide his own pleased smirk as he stood up from the bed, waving his wand and clothing himself in his smart little English suit and derby hat once more. "Whoa, hey! Are you sure you're up to getting out of bed already?" Timantha blurted out worriedly, rising from her seat at his actions. Anti-Cosmo waved her back in dismissal.

"I'm perfectly fine! All the others have been doing is simply recharging my energy and magical reserves but I can easily do it myself if I travel amongst the humans in a proper guise." he declared haughtily and poofed into a black earring that rested in place on one of her ears, replacing one of her usual pink studs. "I've already dismissed that horribly cheerful nurse of yours, so we are free to be on our way." Anti-Cosmo added while Timantha studied her reflection in the ICU window, "The remainder of my anti-fairy forces shall stay here in the Tower and rest, awaiting the next Friday the Thirteenth to celebrate with our usual mayhem and miseries."

"Well, if you really feel alright, then I guess it's okay." Timantha sighed, "I just wish I could go out and see how things are doing, if Remy's taken the bait and set up his own party or something." She fingered the pink stud remaining and frowned, "Hm, I don't like how they mismatch. Anti-Wanda!" The brunette conjured up a small mirror and smashed it against the bedside table, grinning at the burst of pale blue smoke that cleared to reveal Anti-Cosmo's wife cheerfully floating upside down.

"Hi, Sugarsnack! Hi, Sweet'ums!" she greeted in joy, "I'm gettin' a new pers-pers... whatever that word is! See?" Anti-Cosmo muffled a groan from his place.

"That's perspective, my dim-witted darling, and you're doing it wrong." he explained in that tone of suffering, "Come, come, Anti-Wanda, dear. Timothy... er, Timantha, rather, is in need of acquiring our anti traits once again! Poof yourself into an earring like myself and let's be on our way!" Timantha blinked as his godmother's anti-self eagerly laughed and poofed into the matching stud, replacing the second pink earring.

"On our way? To where? I can't leave the Ivory Tower!" she exclaimed.

"Silly child, of course you can!" Anti-Cosmo declared haughtily, "Just don't advertise to the world that you have connections to the S-List children and no one will think twice at some pink-frilled girl skipping along during tea time!"

Rolling her eyes at the idea of 'skipping along', Timantha snatched up her purse and headed out of the ICU. Maybe it would work out, just strolling around and seeing first-hand if anything was being set up properly.

* * *

Juandissimo stared first at the little model that his godchild had wished for, then at said godchild, then back at the model. **This** was what Remy's brilliant plan was? **This** was how he was going to outclass the Others and their party and endear himself to the city and become the new Heart of Dimmsdale? He cleared his throat, raised an eyebrow, then looked to his godchild once more.

"_Mi amigo_, this thing is neither sexy nor easily understood." the Latino fairy finally spoke, "So... what is it?"

Remy stood before the model, grinning broadly as he rubbed his hands together, the aionis scepter strapped to a wished up harness that kept it across his back. He chuckled now and then, a strange rapid-fire giggling that Juandissimo heard most often from Veronica and found alarming to hear coming out of his godchild.

The model itself was a scale of a park, one that did not yet exist, filled with trees and fountains and looking rather beautiful for a park. Its crowning piece, however, was at the entrance, a small toy doll of Timmy Turner smiling brightly... and shaking hands with a tiny bronze statue, one of Remy himself. Everything had been wished into the room, save for the doll. Remy had to get someone to run out and purchase the thing to stand in place of a statue model. And it was this very thing that had puzzled Juandissimo, more than the actual park model itself. Parks, that whole 'nature' thing, wasn't really in Remy's style, but this incredibly obvious attempt to imply friendship between the two boys was even more out of place with him.

"It's absolutely perfect!" Remy declared excitedly, "With this, the entire city will believe that their precious Heart had **intended** for me to replace him in the event of his... passing... ha ha!" He gestured towards the model. "I shall have this made right here in the city as a goodwill gift, and I'll announce its creation at my own Halloween party!" The blonde strode back and forth, eyes bright with the idea. "A truly fantastic ball! One that the whole city will speak of for years! And I'll hold it... here! Yes!" he went on, waving his arms around the foyer, laughing, "Here, in my mansion! Where everyone can only dream of ever seeing, for that one night... I'll invite the world to view my master plan!"

Juandissimo made note to not mention that such an idea was probably what the Others were hoping for, given what Remy had done with Tootie and Andromeda. He only sighed, rolled his eyes, and prepared to grant a great many wishes concerning the Halloween party.

"Quickly! Before the day ends!" Remy suddenly exclaimed seriously, "We must get to a television station and air my announcement! A Halloween ball will be held in this manor on Halloween night! All are invited to behold the coming of the Buxaplenty Park!" With that, he spun and ran for the door, straightening his tie as Juandissimo poofed into his ferret guise and chased after the boy.

* * *

It was broadcast within the hour, all over the city; Remy Buxaplenty was going to unveil a special surprise at his Halloween ball, to be held at his manor on Halloween night. This surprise was something that was endorsed by the Heart of Dimmsdale himself before his death, so this was going to be a rare and welcome treat. The city gave a lukewarm reception to that, eager to know what the fallen Heart had left behind, but not so warm to the idea that they would have to go to Remy's party to find out. The division between those that continued to stand on the idea of Timmy Turner remaining undisputed as the Heart and those that were considering selecting a new Heart to survive remained in place, and feuds in the streets amped up over who was going to which party.

Remy watched from his vantage in Juandissimo's latest guise, a purple helicopter, grinning at the ensuing skirmishes between the citizens. Once his park model was unveiled, the majority of the city would surely side with him and then it would only be a matter of time before the rest succumbed and he was declared the new Heart. Then, the immunity against wishes made by other children would become his own and his Spires would be untouchable by those blasted urchins and the little mongrel.

What a truly delicious day!

He laughed, deliriously happy with himself for the first time in ages.

* * *

As the evening fell, Remy returned to his manor and surveyed the rooms, reciting things he would need to wish up to Juandissimo as the fairy dutifully wrote them down with a less than enthusiastic expression. The blonde seemed more alive than he had been before, but Juandissimo wondered about his mental stability, as Remy still kept a tight grip on his scepter, using it to point around the various rooms and even the ballroom while still chatting on about decorations and butlers. He seemed unaware of the slight warping of matter that formed at the points and the Latino fairy decided not to make mention of it, simply waving his wand to poof the distorted objects back to normal.

Power like that, it didn't belong in the hands of someone who wasn't meant to use it the way Remy did. It didn't belong to humans. So, how in the world did the boy get his hands on it? Juandissimo found himself growing more and more unsettled with things as they stood with each passing day. Something was wrong, very wrong, and he knew it for the longest time now. But what could he do about it, really? He was Remy's fairy godparent, sworn to use his magic to help the boy until the day they were separated by either Remy aging into adulthood naturally, or Jorgen forcibly recalling him due to the nullification of Dimmsdale's magic. The fairy's thoughts turned to the contract sealed in the desk upstairs.

Perhaps... there was a loophole he could use?

While Remy was busily fawning over his park model, Juandissimo poofed up El Rules and began reading through it more carefully.

* * *

Timantha headed home from her outing, sighing in relief as she kicked off her heels and flopped back onto her bed. While browsing the shops and boutiques for a dress to wear to the predicted Halloween party, she'd passed by an electronics store that looked like it'd been blown up but miraculously still had several televisions working. It was while debating whether or not to rebuild the storefront with her own magic that she spotted the commercials that Remy paid for, advertising his Halloween Ball to be held at his manor the same night as the Halloween Blast Party the Timmy Turner Foundation was holding at the city park. She beamed at the thought that her plan was working out so well and didn't even notice that she finished her day out by skipping to the nearest bus stop to head home.

Anti-Cosmo pointed it out to her on the ride home and she turned the appropriate color red about it.

"Welcome home, Timantha." Michael remarked, knocking on the door to the brunette's room as a courtesy, "It seems as if your plan is off to a good start." Timantha sat back up, grinning at the android.

"See? Told ya it'd work!" she returned smugly and looked around eagerly, "Where are Cosmo and Wanda?" Michael gestured to one side and the fairy couple poofed into the air, smiling cheerfully before rushing forward to hug their true godchild.

"It's working! We'll be able to rescue Tootie and Romi in no time!" Wanda exclaimed, "Oh, Sport, I'm so proud of you for coming up with this all on your own!" Timantha chuckled in their embrace, petting them both on the head before looking up at the android.

"Remy is holding a Halloween Ball at his manor on the night of our party. I want everyone to show up at the Ivory Tower tomorrow to start planning out who will be supervising the party in the park and who will be going with me on the rescue mission in Remy's manor." she told him, getting back to business. The fairies fluttered back, Cosmo cheerfully floating around in circles, giggling most when he turned upside down, while Wanda took on a worried expression.

"But if Remy's got them in the manor, won't he be holding them in that room surrounded by nullifiers?" she asked, "You'll get sick if you're exposed to that many of them again!"

Apparently that was the cue that Anti-Cosmo was looking for, as he and his wife poofed into the air just as Timantha was opening her mouth to answer.

"That's why she's going to have us with her on this rescue mission!" he declared haughtily, "By adapting to our anti-fairy tendencies and black magic, she'll be rendered immune to that cur's anti-magic defenses!"

"And make purdy black balls of fire too!" Anti-Wanda laughed, matching Cosmo's slow spinning but in the opposite direction, "Purdy, so purdy!" The surprise on Wanda and Michael's faces made Timantha laugh, though all Cosmo did was continue his spinning with a blank face, staring vacantly through everything. Finding no one else was laughing with her, the brunette trailed off into an awkward bit of chuckling, then coughed into a fist.

"Um... yeah. What he said." she echoed lamely, pointing at Anti-Cosmo.

"I don't like it." Wanda growled, glaring at her husband's anti-self. Her hands tightened into fists, subconsciously moving into place as though she were gripping the Heartache Hammer at that moment. "I don't like it one bit."

"The logic is sound and the data from Caleb's experiments with Anti-Cosmo, Timothy and one of the captured nullifier units supports the idea of having Timantha re-adapt to anti-fairy qualities by proxy of the anti-fairies' presence." Michael reported, eyes closed in consideration as he nodded slowly, "I have no objections to this adjustment to the plan. It almost guarantees the rescue will succeed." Timantha held her hands out to the robot.

"See? Michael agrees with me on this! C'mon, Wanda! Just until we get Tootie and Romi back!" she pleaded, "I'm telling you, they're not as bad as we thought! Well, they are but bad as in being evil little buggers, but not bad as in bad to be friends with! Well... you know what I mean!"

Wanda only sighed harshly, pulling a hand down over her face as she grumbled to herself before finally giving the three of them her motherly glare again.

"Fine. You win for now. But as soon as we get the girls back, you two are to stay away from Timmy!" she pointed out hotly and Anti-Cosmo only smiled wider.

"Actually, isn't Danny Phantom still in that coma of his? Little something I heard through the grapevine while being tended to by that sickeningly bright nurse in ICU." he purred and seated himself daintily on Timantha's shoulder, "So, you're going to need me in future Spire battles anyway. I think I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, don't you agree, my dear Anti-Wanda?"

"Wheeeee!" his wife exclaimed, now spinning the other way.

"I agree to that as well." Michael acknowledged, then took on a distant look, as though listening to something just out of Timantha's range of hearing. After a minute, he sighed and shrugged in a facsimile of resignation, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll have the servants prepare dinner for you all. I've just been summoned back to New York to pick up Cosmo's replacement weapon so I won't be joining you for dinner tonight." He gave the girl a steady glare as well, "And I'll also be taking those records with me to update Caleb on your little change in death status." With that, he turned and walked away, leaving Timantha to laugh nervously and wonder yet again if the angelic android would hit a girl.

"Oh, I'm gonna be in soooo much trouble." she whimpered softly and gave the four magical creatures a weak smile, "Can't we just get along for a few days?" Her only response was a growl from Wanda, and she hung her head in mock despair, "I guess not..."

* * *

Chester leaned back against the side of the pillar that held a large brass bowl bearing a small flame. It flickered and danced in the light of the setting sun, and sometimes it was the only bit of light and life in the city at night, before the people began coming out little by little as the Spires fell. The pyre was another of those memorials Dimmsdale set up in honor of Timmy, an everlasting flame that took up a bit of the city's funding to keep burning. On occasion, the mayor would make a rather weak attempt at putting it out to recover the funds for some city project or another and Timmy's parents would catch wind of it, set up a massive protest and fund-raising effort that spilled more money into the Heart's Flame account and the pyre would be 'saved' yet again.

The blonde turned over the large manila folder in his hands. Along with the papers and photos and the drawing copy was a small disc that had the results of A.J.'s simulator, displaying first the exact conditions of the day Timmy died and how he should have survived the fall, then the new conditions that showed how the jungle gym had moved. A second disc was included that showed the trap built by Crocker for his usual crazy scheme had not been the one to cause the move; as much as it rubbed wrong with the majority of the Others, it was put in so Crocker wouldn't be caught up in the investigation as a prime suspect.

"Ah, how long have you been there?" a voice remarked in surprise and Chester looked up to grin at the puzzled face of the Chief of Police, the older man a stout fellow but good at his duties.

"Heyas, Chief! I was just doin' some thinkin' so I really dunno know how long I've been here." he replied and pushed himself from the pillar, resting the folder against his chest, "How's Candice? She doin' good?" The Chief shook a finger at him in mock reproach, giving him playfully scolding glare.

"Now, now! What have I told you about referring to my daughter by her name like that? 'Specially since she's much older than you!" he lectured, then relaxed, "Doing better, in part thanks to you, young man. If it weren't for you hooliganin' around in those alleys that day..." Chester waved the rest of the remark away.

"Dimmsdale folks gotta look out for each other, y'know? Timmy wouldn't be happy if we all fell to pieces just cuz he died on us." he returned and frowned, "Actually, that's the reason why I called in that favor, Chief. It's about Timmy's death." The man in uniform sighed heavily, a faint sound of resignation in the tone.

"Ah, boy, are you still insisting that he shouldn't have died that day? It was a terrible tragedy, for sure, but it's happened and it's past and there's nothing more we can do but mourn the loss and see about trying to save the city ourselves." he murmured and Chester shook his head fiercely.

"If you mean that bull-crap about Remy's little plan to become the new Heart of Dimmsdale, then screw him! Timmy's the Heart and he'll stay the Heart until we learn to move on!" he declared and held out the folder, "And here is the proof that Timmy shouldn't have died at all! Check it out, Chief Hanna! We gathered up evidence that he didn't die by accident!"

The Chief of Police gaped at the boy, mouth open and eyes wide as they locked onto the large folder. Another few moments and his wits, what little was there for being a Dimmsdale native, returned to him.

"P-proof? That little Timmy Turner was supposed to live?" he stammered in shock, "Y-you don't mean to say he was... made dead... on purpose... do ya?"

"Murdered, Chief Hanna. And yeah, tha's what I'm sayin'." Chester returned grimly, "This is the evidence me and the Others and some friends from New York gathered up that shows how Timmy died for real." He handed the folder over, watching the Chief of Police take it into his shaking hands. "We've got a suspect too, but we just can't figure out his motive." the blonde added quietly, "That's why I was hoping you could reopen the case with this, and find out the things that we still don't understand." He looked up at the man seriously, hands clenching into fists at his sides while Chief Hanna opened the folder and read over part of the Black Hound files, his ruddy face turning gray at the information. "Please. We need your help." Chester finished, "To get justice. For all of us. For Timmy. For our future."

The Chief said nothing for the longest time, only continued reading the files with that same aghast expression. Finally, he closed his eyes and sighed heavily, sliding the papers back into the folder.

"Chester, do you know how hard it will be to conduct an investigation into this right now? With the whole city tearing itself up over the Heart and that Remy kid trying to become the new Heart?" he returned sternly, "I want to help, really I do. You have enough evidence here to get the whole station up in arms and running to find answers."

"But you can't because Remy's little speech has everyone chompin' at the bits over who's gonna be the Heart of Dimmsdale, him or Timmy." Chester finished dryly, folding his arms over his chest. The two of them stood in silence before the flickering of the Heart's Flame pyre, gazing up at it somberly. The city was quiet, everyone that knew better was already indoors due to the curfew, and the stars that were beginning to emerge overhead twinkled sadly down on Dimmsdale.

Neither of them spoke, but the conversation of silences was deep. Timmy's death, long since pronounced a tragic accident and closed with no real comfort to anyone, would be reopened if Chester had his way, unleashing a new wave of agony upon the city in the search for truth and justice. But could such lofty ideals really justify doing all that to Dimmsdale? Would they rather stay miserable like this, keeping their innocence by believing wholly that Timmy died in an accident? Or would they investigate the case, find the truth, and realize that Dimmsdale was just as easy prey to the evils of humanity as any other city in the world? Was that fair? To let Timmy's death remain as is just so Dimmsdale can boast that no serious crime ever touched them?

Chester supposed that was what Dimmsdale wanted deep down within themselves, if only to spare themselves more pain and the loss of pride. The thought left a bitter taste in his mouth.

"Well, I'm leavin' it in your hands, Chief." he finally said dully, slipping his hands into his jacket pockets as he began walking away, "We'll keep looking for answers ourselves, if ya don't mind. I'll see ya some other time, then. Got a Halloween party to set up in the park." Chief Hanna turned abruptly, holding a hand out to stop the teen as he headed down the sidewalk.

"Ah, wait, Chester! I never said I wouldn't reopen the case!" he called out. Chester paused, tilting his head enough to show he was listening. "I'll get the boys to look into it once the whole Buxaplenty Tower thing blows over, all right? After Halloween."

The blonde nodded shortly, then continued into the shadows of the city.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: One of the reasons why I liked this chapter so much is because of a special crossover that happens here. Caleb's 'sons' arrive to help with the murder case half of Timmy's problems. This is also the last fully written chapter, as I started juggling a lot of other fics at about the time it was done and things kinda went downhill real-life wise from then on.

* * *

16

~Saturday, October 28th, Neogene Manor

Morning in the Neogene Manor was a small flurry of pre-Tower plotting and getting things organized to keep Timantha's cover story straight. Michael had returned from New York after a rather long debriefing with Caleb about the recent discovery that Timmy's death was a murder and not an accident, as the angelic android originally believed. And as Timantha suspected, the angel was very much not happy with the news; between the ranting, the cooking, and the random degeneration into raving in ancient languages, she was surprised to hear that he hadn't broken down into a mass of metal and red hair. Michael glared at her for that one, remarking in a rather snippy tone that Caleb was considered the pinnacle of prochaic technology and would take **far** more than her teenage recklessness to completely break him down.

She was tempted to remind him of the Dark Spire attacks earlier in the year that resulted in Caleb retreating for days on end to recover, but decided not to tick off the person posing as her boy self.

The Archive now had the copies of the Black Hound records and poured over them as thoroughly as they examined the Fairy Portal blueprints and the schematics for the older anti-magic devices. Progress on trying to unlock the secret to the nullification program was slow and difficult, with the mana field and mana shield generators the only current method of defending against their effects. On top of that, Caleb was still tending to Danny Phantom, refusing to leave New York until he knew for certain that the half-ghost was fully recovered and floating on his own power again.

Team Turner was still on its own, for the most part.

"Before we begin, Caleb has made it clear that any new developments of your murder case is to be brought to his attention immediately, so I will be reporting everything I learn on a regular basis." Michael pointed out flatly, opening a package on the table as Timantha and the anti-fairies had breakfast. Cosmo and Wanda sat on the opposite end of the table with the android, glaring at their anti-selves as they ate their own cereal with some amount of malice. Timantha was sure her godparents were the only people she knew who could make eating breakfast look like a declaration of war.

"Okay..." she sighed, dropping her chin into one hand, "What else?"

"Cosmo's replacement weapon is finished." Michael added, bringing a new scythe out of the package and holding it up for them all to see. It was the same black color as the Windcutter, but the head was split to support two curved blades, a smaller blade fanned out from the other end of the staff. "This would be called the Stormreaver. The blades here," he remarked, pointing at the dual scythe head, "can be collapsed into a single blade by twisting this dial just under them so it can act as the Windcutter originally did. Twist it again to split the blades back apart." He handed it to Cosmo, watching as the fairy immediately began testing the weight and balance of the weapon, taking to the air to give it a few practice slashes. "The blade at the end is for thrust attacks, just in case." the android added, "How do you like it?"

"Good." Cosmo returned shortly, poofing the weapon away, "It works." Michael and Timantha both gave him matching expressions of wariness, uncertain as to what to make of that remark before shrugging it off as another of Cosmo's quirks.

"Also, I've examined your Adventurer's Band." Michael went on, tapping at the white band that adorned his arm, loaned to him by Timantha to add to his cover, "Did you know that its processing power has deteriorated? Portions of its programming have also corrupted, so I had to isolate and diagnose the troubles." Timantha gave him a blank stare and the android rolled his eyes, "It's failing, okay?"

"Why?" the girl asked, pushing her now empty plate away. Michael shrugged.

"It's been failing for a while now, according to the diagnostics. It's currently stable, but I haven't been able to reliably calculate how long it'll stay that way." he replied and tapped his wrist as though indicating a watch, "We're expected at the Ivory Tower for me to give assignments on the party and rescue teams. What's your plan?"

"Okay, I'm on the rescue team, and I'll need Mark to act as my escort to Remy's party so we can keep things on the level there." Timantha checked off on her fingers, "We can't bring in Trixie because Remy's got a bit of a grudge against her now, Chip and Vicky are out because they need to be at the party with you. Elmer is the Stand-In Timmy, so he also has to be at the party." She paused and counted over her friends in her head quickly. " So... that leaves Chester, A.J and Apollo. Apollo's gonna have to stay with Trixie to keep the party protected in case your magic can't handle things, and Cosmo and Wanda can help with that. So, Chester and A.J. are on the rescue team with me, Mark and the anti-fairies." Michael raised an eyebrow at the allocation.

"Why take the alien?" he questioned, gesturing at one of the servants to come collect dishes as the fairies all polished off their meals. Timantha grinned broadly, her front teeth prominent in the smile.

"I'm going to need to get Romi and Tootie out of that room, right? And there are nullifiers in the way." she replied, "Alien technology won't get nullified so Mark's blasters can get rid of them no problem!" The android gave her a neutral expression before matching her grin.

"I like." he murmured.

* * *

Ivory Tower~

"...so A.J., Chester, Mark and Timantha will be entering Remy's party with Anti-Cosmo and Anti-Wanda helping them out." Michael repeated Timantha's plan to the Others, paraphrasing so as to avoid sounding like he was just parroting the entire strategy, "They'll rescue Tootie and Romi while the rest of us keep up pretenses at our own Halloween party and defend it in case Remy tries to wish up any tricks to spoil the treats."

The room broke into soft murmurs as the teens and young adults chatted over the assignments they were given. A.J. seemed to look dreamy, hearts practically floating over his head as he gazed in Timantha's direction. The girl was oblivious, tapping away on her cellphone with a vague frown on her face. Chester nudged him, grinning.

"So you gonna ask her out to the party or not?" the blonde teased, tossing his head in Timantha's direction, "Even if it's for a rescue mission, you can still get a few chances in to cozy up and get to know her better." A.J. blinked at him in surprise, then gazed nervously back at the girl.

"You think I should try? I mean, we're already paired for it, what would be the point of asking?" he stammered and Chester rolled his eyes.

"It's the principle of the thing, A.J.; you gotta ask anyway to make it more like a real date." he replied in a matter-of-fact tone. The other boy winced.

"Maybe." he muttered, toying with his index fingers by pressing them together tightly, "I better get more flowers."

At the head of the table, Timantha continued frowning at the text messages being sent to her. Caleb wanted her in New York right away. Probably to fume at her over the whole murder case thing, though he should have already gotten it out of his system once he cooked everything in the Archives' kitchen and passed it out to the homeless as usual. But according to the text, there was an issue with her classification of power; Danni's report was really messing with the file for Timmy Turner and a retest needed to be taken, so Timantha would have to head over for the test.

"Couldn't he have picked a better time to do this?" Timantha grumbled under her breath, "I need to pick out a dress for the party and get Mark caught up on what exactly we're doing."

"Let me handle the team and their assignments." Michael murmured softly, bending to whisper to her while watching the Others haul out paper and scribble out haunted house ideas and other party favors, "You should see what Caleb wants and just get it over with. Besides, you can get a dress in New York just as easily as here in Dimmsdale." Timantha sighed, shrugging at the idea. It was a nuisance, but one she'd have to deal with.

"I hope Tootie and Romi are still okay." she sighed, texting one last time before clapping the phone shut and stuffing it into her purse, "Don't even know if they're getting food and water, and I don't think my mana crystals can take the place of meals."

* * *

Undisclosed location~

Tootie sighed, hugging her knees as she looked over the scraps of foil she had collected from each meal she had received so far. It would take a lot more before she could fashion anything resembling a weapon or focus from the foil. Arts and crafts weren't exactly her thing -she knew enough to get by with modifying things to fit her Goth style like Sam had taught her to do- but this was the first time she'd be using it to get herself out of trouble.

She had tried to conjure something for herself to use, like she had seen Timmy do with lots of things. But no matter how hard she tried and focused and pieced everything together in her head, Tootie just couldn't get the mana to act the way she wanted. It wouldn't form a knife or a dagger or even a spoon. She tried shifting the mana of her meal trays into something usable, but that didn't work either. When the frustration built up, she took it out on the door, kicking it in a fury and threatening all kinds of torments for Remy once she escaped.

"I don't get it." she muttered for the hundredth time, staring down at the foil, "Caleb said I've got higher intelligence than Timmy, so I can cast spells easier and better. So why can't I do the kind of magic Timmy can?" Romi picked up one scrap and carefully folded it into a neat little square, an odd expression on her face. "It's too bad you can't transform into something I can use as a focus." the Goth sighed, looking towards her fairy godmother.

"You can't mix magic." Romi muttered, a mantra of sorts that she began falling back on whenever the conversations wandered into the territories of Timmy's abilities, mana magic and fairy magic. She was a fairy, using magic from the ultra-mana end of the field, a higher plane than the mana used by Tootie for her spells. To try channeling that kind of magic through herself would result in the spell diffusing to nothing and Romi herself getting sick from the 'impurities' of normal mana.

Tootie returned to frowning down at her scraps of foil. Just a little more, then she could fashion a small rod, something, to use for a focus.

* * *

Fairy World~

A figure wrapped in the drab browns of a trench coat and fedora stood impassively in an alley, watching fairies flit about in their daily business as she touched up her lipstick. Waiting was the hardest part of their operation; everything else, by comparison, was easy as pie. The gathering of information over several years, the careful watching, subtle mentoring and manipulation, all of it. It had been so easy compared to just waiting, for the right moment, the right situation, the right people to be in the right places. The slightest mistake in timing, in placement, in wording **anything** to _anyone_, and everything would fall to pieces. The war they dreaded having would break out, and Earth would be dragged into it. Bring the Earth in, and Caleb would turn every Hero alive -and not- against them without a moment of hesitation. The sheer amount of power and fighting at that scale would destroy them _all_.

And all over a single boy.

There was a puff of smoke from nearby and the figure straightened, slipping away her lipstick.

"You're late." she informed the arriving agent curtly.

"It's hard getting away from people that know all the Halloween decorations they need can be wished up in a flash." Apollo returned grouchily. He bent backwards, a few pops sounding before he straightened with a sigh of relief. "Phew! I needed that!" the fairy exclaimed happily before giving a sharp salute to the figure in the coat, "Special Agent Apollo, reporting in!"

"So how **are** things going?" the taller figure purred, leaning against the wall of a building, features hidden by shadows and the hat and coat.

"No one suspects anything still." Apollo returned, "The kids are moving ahead with trying to get Timmy's case reopened as a homicide, but they can't figure out a motive that makes sense to adult humans without revealing us fairies being involved." The other figure jerked in shock.

"A fairy? A fairy was involved in the death of Timmy Turner?" she blurted out, one hand flying up to her shadowed mouth. Apollo gave a careless shrug, his hands shoved into his jacket pockets.

"The prime suspect in Timmy's murder is Remy Buxaplenty, godson of Juandissimo Magnifico." he returned flatly, "But in certain encounters with him, he shows signs of being unaware of Remy's true role in Timmy's death. A device found connected to the former foundation of the original jungle gym bears a corporate logo. Based on this..."

"We have someone else moving in on Timmy." the figure murmured in frustration, "Tch. And they struck when he was at the right age for development." She began pacing again, gesturing almost at random. "We've kept the information about him secret for nearly a decade! How did someone find out and act on it? And what of the Dark Spires?" she questioned rapidly, "They nullify magic, right? All that does is tip the scales of war away from us just a little. A **little**! There's no other benefit in them beyond denying us access to Dimmsdale!" Apollo raised an eyebrow at the mutterings.

"Ma'am? What information about Timmy are you talking about?" he asked in confusion, "I wasn't made aware that there was sensitive data about him that had been compromised." The other agent waved a hand airily at him.

"Never mind, never mind! It's not important anyway, now that he's untouchable to fairykind." she replied brightly, ignoring the scowl on the red-haired fairy's face that formed at her answer, "Let's just focus on getting justice out of Remy, Juandissimo recalled, and the Spires torn down. Anything else?"

"Yeah. I don't like the smell of this 'Timantha' deal." Apollo groused, arms folding over his chest, "Any idiot can see through that disguise in a heartbeat." The figure planted her hands on her hips.

"I happen to think it's a very cute disguise." she retorted haughtily, then sighed as a sudden alarm went off at one of her wrists. She lifted it to glare at the flashing light. "Oh, darn. I have to go." she muttered and lifted her gaze to the miffed fairy godfather, "I'll give your report over to Jorgen. Go and finish up the Halloween preparations -try not to blow Timmy's cover-, and for the love of Titania **don't** kill yourself trying to copy Cosmo's abilities!"

"You people are going to have to explain **him** to me eventually." Apollo pointed out dryly as the other agent whipped out her own wand to poof away, "I don't want to end up in the middle of some scandal like that big one that hit Fairy World."

"Depends on what you mean by 'that big one'. Bye!" the figure replied cheerfully and poofed away. Apollo growled under his breath before lifting his own wand to make his way back to Trixie's side.

* * *

Ivory Tower~

Timantha was a twitchy girl, for some reason. This was something A.J. learned fairly quickly. It wasn't like he was following her, nooooo. He was simply very good at guessing where she was at any given time and happened to remember that there was something there that urgently needed his attention and he happened to be rather quick on his feet. That's all. And it was then that he noticed just how twitchy Timantha could be.

"Oh, h-hiya, Timantha!" A.J. stammered out a greeting as he walked into the lab. The brunette jumped with a startled yelp, spinning around to blink at him with wide eyes.

"Geez! Don't do that!" she blurted out, one hand clapping over her heart before glancing down at it and yanking it behind her back, "What is it? Are you looking for something?" She glanced around herself nervously, as though searching out for anything that might be of interest to him. A.J. swallowed, trying to make the lump in his throat go away and let him speak again. She really had gotten prettier since he last saw her. He'd thought she was really cute, the little girl that walked into the mall one day, a faintly panicked expression on her face that quickly melted into confidence as she made her way straight for a comic book shop. Well, cute became pretty and A.J. fumbled his way through an attempt to ask her to the party on an 'official' date.

"Well, y'see. About that party at Remy's mansion. You know the one?" he asked lamely. Timantha gave him a strange expression, some mix of disbelief and exasperation.

"Yeah. The one we forced him in to having so we could rescue Tootie and Romi. What about it?" she questioned in return. The boy scientist fidgeted in place, looking around himself in an effort to hold himself together and perhaps draw some extra bravado from all his gadgets and inventions around him. The laptop that had run Timmy's death scenario in its simulator had finally been shut down, its ultimate task completed.

"Um, so, I was wondering..." he stammered out, then took a deep breath and blurted the rest in a rush, _"?"_ His face flushed as he stared at the brunette, eyes wide with puppy dog hope that she understood him and accepted.

Timantha froze in place, eyes equally wide and looking as if someone had just revealed to her in front of a thousand broadcasting cameras that she had a wardrobe malfunction and someone failed to put up a censor bar for five minutes. After a moment or so, one eye twitched.

"Excuse me?" she squeaked, "Could you... repeat that?" A.J. laughed nervously, a high giggling sound that made her shudder involuntarily.

"Nothing!" he lied, waving his hands erratically before himself, "Just sayin' stuff! Y'know? Stuff?" Timantha relaxed, a tiny bit, peering at him askance with some amount of wariness, the same amount one would give a peeved lion tossed into a room with them.

"Okaaaay." she murmured, stretching the word to fill the awkward silence between them. She pointed at the teleporter disc behind her. "I'm just going to, you know, go here now. To this disc. So I can go to New York." she told the boy in short sentences, hoping that would make it easier for him to understand. A.J. nodded mutely, then looked puzzled.

"You're going to New York? Alone?" he asked and Timantha mentally clapped a hand over her face and pulled down, a silent groan issuing from her mouth.

"It's just the Archives. I'm going to go and see what Caleb wanted from me." the brunette sighed in exasperation, "And yeah, I'm going alone. I can take care of myself."

"Oh." A.J. looked fairly disheartened, almost disappointed, and Timantha winced at the expression. It wouldn't do for him to look like that on her account, so despite the dread feeling that this was going to be one of those bad ideas that started off as a good one, she gave another little sigh and stepped to one side a bit.

"Would you like to come with me, A.J.?" she asked dully, gesturing to the disc, "I was also going to pick out a dress for the party while I was there, so we can hang out after I'm done with Caleb." The boy lit up, smiling broadly at her.

"Really? Sure!" he exclaimed and scampered onto the disc eagerly, oblivious to Timantha's muttered 'I'm gonna regret this later.' as she joined him on the teleporter pad, the two of them vanishing in a beam of light.

* * *

Archives of the Twin Blades~

The two teens stepped down from the disc and entered the Archives properly, gazing around at the numerous people and androids bustling about the halls in even more activity than usual. Known androids, those based on the ancient Heroes Caleb had traveled with and guarded many millions of years ago, were stationed at points along the halls, directing the traffic and issuing out orders rapidly, first in English, then in a multitude of different languages. Costumed Heroes and plainclothes civilian Heroes moved about in near military form. This wasn't normal for the Archives, with the daily chaos and bedlam that Timantha had been used to for all the time she spent there growing up.

"What the heck's going on here?" she wondered aloud, pressing her back against the wall and yanking A.J. back beside her, the two of them watching a platinum blonde woman in a black cat costume hurry by with a fairly determined expression on her face.

"Rush hour in the Archives?" A.J. returned inanely, looking around himself in confusion. Timantha frowned, sensing something more lay under the oddly -and slightly disturbing- choreographed flow of activity. She darted into the rush of people, ignoring A.J.'s startled shout, and wove through and around the many different Heroes, striving to reach one of the androids directing them all.

The one she finally reached made her think she had come across Caleb himself, but the hair was too short and dark, the clothes all wrong for him; white shirt and long coat with black pants. Timantha reached out, snagged her fingers on his coat and gave it a hard tug to catch his attention. Behind her, A.J. huffed and puffed, running around to catch up and stumbling into safety beside her, as the platform the Hero stood on to be seen clearly provided a bit of a barrier for them.

"Hey. Hey!" Timantha called and the redhead blinked down at her, baffled by her appearance, "What's going on? Where's Caleb? He called me here and all I see is New York traffic running through the Archives!" The redhead scratched his head, seeming to think things over.

"He called for you, not the other kid. It's a private thing he wants to talk to you about." he finally returned and looked towards A.J., "Yo, kid. A.J., right? At least, that's what the file calls you..." A.J. gave him a startled look and the Hero rolled his eyes before pointing at himself. "Luke Von Fabre, just call me Luke. I'm one of Caleb's works; an android." he explained shortly, "You're the science nut, right? We could use your help in the lab on the third floor; something about updating the processing power of the mana field generator you guys have installed on the Ivory Tower."

"Huh? Oh! Yeah, if it's about that, then sure. I can help with that." A.J. agreed with vague uncertainty, "I mean, anything we can improve on to keep Timmy protected is number one priority." He glanced aside at Timantha, fidgeting. "Do I have to go by myself though?" he added petulantly. Luke frowned at him.

"I just said that Caleb had to talk to the girl alone, didn't I? What part of 'private matters' didn't you understand?" he argued and jerked his head aside, "Go on! Get outta here! Third floor lab room, got it?" A.J. jumped and hurried towards one of the elevators, looking back over his shoulder at Timantha with some regret. The brunette and redhead both watched him go before looking at one another. "You realize he's got the hots for you like this, right?" Luke pointed out flatly.

"What? Ew!" Timantha shuddered, face twisting in revulsion, "Geez! I may look like a girl and have a girly brain right now, but I'm still a boy deep down and that's just... ugh!" She shuddered again, shaking her head to dismiss the idea as fast as possible. "So where's Caleb? What did he need to talk to me about? I thought this was just about me retesting for my Level." she switched subjects, hoping to move directly to what the problem could be. She gestured around herself as well, "And what's with all this?"

"We've got a pair of advanced Level Fives in New York and Caleb's set the city on high alert until they leave." Luke explained, straightening up and directing the flow of Heroes again, "As far as I know, they were called in to help deal with your little murder case issue. As for the talk, that was just code for the testing. You didn't want that kid to know you're actually Timmy, right?" Timantha rubbed her head with a sigh.

"Yeah, you're right about... wait... Caleb's got a red alert out 'cause of a couple of Level Fives? They're weaker than me, then!" she exclaimed after her brain caught up with the words she'd been told, "How can they put the whole city on edge when they've got people like, say..." She looked around herself for an example. The crowd was beginning to thin, Heroes having been directed enough to their appointed sectors to get their necessary info and hit the streets. Timantha finally spotted a suitable Hero, grabbed him by the arm and hauled his shocked self back to Luke. "This guy! He could probably dish out more damage than a pair of dinky Level Fives!" she finished firmly, pointing at the costumed man before glaring up at him, "Who're you?"

"Nightwing?" the man replied uncertainly and Timantha nodded at Luke.

"Like Nightwing here!" she agreed and the android gave her a flat expression.

"He's Level Four. Strong, but not worth a high alert." Luke pointed out and wiggled his fingers at them as though shooing away a fly, "Let the guy get on his way, kid. He's got junk to do in the Ninth Sector." Timantha scowled, dropping her hand and letting the costumed man stomp away. The android shook her head. "The Level Fives are from out of the country, some Eastern foreigners. Something about them isn't normal for Level Five Heroes; Caleb knows it, but he doesn't talk about it. However, in everything else, they rank Level Five. It's just those one things for each of them that screws with the class some." he remarked, gesturing at a small group of costumed teens to pause and let another cluster of Heroes pass through the adjoining corridor. "Caleb's got them waiting in the break room on the seventh floor. You can find him in the Terrarium." he added and frowned, "Although, it's hard to find the Terrarium. Your best bet is to go to the break room too. He'll be heading there in a bit, since I've sent a signal to him that you're here." Timantha rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Fine. Which break room are these Level Five people in?" she asked dryly. Luke tilted his head upwards.

"Seventh floor, the Gem Room. Keeps them occupied while they wait. Well, one of them at least." the android returned. Timantha thanked him, then walked away with a short wave, heading for the elevator as well.

Once the doors closed on her and she hit the button for the appropriate floor, Anti-Cosmo and Anti-Wanda both poofed free of their disguises and floated before her. Though Anti-Wanda looked perfectly content with her usual vacant stare, sucking on her big toe in comfort, Anti-Cosmo looked less than pleased with the whole situation.

"The more people outside our little circle gets brought in, the harder it will be to keep fairies a secret from the world." he growled softly, "What is that moronic metal madman thinking? Getting others involved... it was bad enough that you have two adults in Dimmsdale aware of the existence of fairies, now we're going to have foreign authorities in this?" Timantha sighed and lifted her hands helplessly.

"Luke said that they were going to be working on my murder case only. So maybe they won't even need to get the idea that fairies are involved." she tried to appease the anti-fairy. Anti-Cosmo scowled further at the word 'murder'. The brunette managed a weak smile, fidgeting with her fingertips and hoping to sway him out of lecturing her while they were trapped in the elevator. A few minutes passed before he finally gave a little sigh and shook his head.

"I'm growing soft because of you." Anti-Cosmo muttered, half-annoyed and half-amused. The bell dinged, signaling the end of the elevator ride and halting any attempts on Timantha's part to question those words. Both antis returned to their positions as her earrings just as she stepped out into the hallway.

The Archives had several floors to it, twelve floors in all if Caleb hadn't decided to add on in the months Timmy had been away. It also had three sub-floors, kept secret as per an agreement with the New York civil authorities. Each of the main floors had several break rooms to give the visiting Heroes places to rest and relax after wandering through the building for their personal reasons. Caleb decorated the rooms to be unique and relaxing, and each was named based on the theme of decoration.

Finding them was fairly easy. Caleb had the habit of setting engraved maps on the walls of the Archives just outside each elevator and had all doors labeled, save for certain rooms that were nearly inaccessible anyway. Timmy had once asked why he did that; Caleb's response was something along the lines of a mumble and a growl. Timmy didn't ask about it anymore.

"Gem Room, Gem Room..." Timantha murmured to herself as she passed down the hall, gazing at the many doors in search of the specific break room. The Gem Room was quite beautiful and littered with rare and exquisite jewels. Caleb never worried about them going missing on him; for one thing, his wealth was to the point where he could get new jewels in at any time to make up for missing ones; for another, Caleb despised that wealth, and anyone taking a few trinkets off his hands for him was welcome to it.

Timmy had found it a source of amusement to see how Caleb's face would scrunch up with irritation and frustration whenever police officers actually managed to recover and return stolen valuables to him.

"Ah, here it is." the brunette sighed in relief, smiling at the door with the label 'Gem Room' plastered onto it. She reached out, pushing open the door and stepping in.

The room always made her pause in wonder, no matter how many times she had entered it in the past. It was well lit from the corners using sconces, flames rising from them that weren't actual fires, but plumes of mana that were generated by gathering the ambient stuff surrounding the current occupants of the room. The plumes set off the softly colored silks draping on the walls, providing a way to hang the many gems and jewels from those walls. They dangled from gold chains attached to the ceiling, not too low so they wouldn't hit anyone on the head. Small glass bowls full of rubies, diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, all kinds of jewels, were set on tables, shelves, and several were even carefully spilled on a window ledge to look attractively messy.

Sitting at the central table in the room were two young men and a small boy with too-large glasses perched on his nose. The boy was standing on his chair, peering at the pile of gems that one of the men had assembled before himself. The second man, dark-skinned and looking bored, only watched them lazily before glancing up to take in Timantha's appearance. A quick glance over her, then he was back to watching his friends. The boy in glasses seemed intent on keeping his eyes on the gems, but he eventually glanced over at her as well, checking her out for a split second before returning to the pile. The one with the pile simply ignored her, poking at the gems with an annoyed expression that slowly grew more frustrated as he prodded harder, pushing gems around until they spread on the table.

_"Iie. Iie. Iie. Iie!"_ he groused, punctuating each word with a jab at a gem. The boy sighed, pulling back from the scattered jewels to flop down in his seat and glare up at the older boy.

_"Baka no Kaito."_ he groused in return. Timantha laughed nervously, rubbing her head at her situation. Okay, she **had** been warned that these people weren't locals. So they must be talking in their native language, whatever it was. She hoped they knew English.

"Um. Hi?" she began hesitantly.

_"Hai."_ the youngest of them returned absently, nodding as kept his eyes on his companion. The one jabbing at gems glared back at him.

_"IIE!"_ he growled and the dark-skinned one sighed and rolled his eyes.

"She was talking to us and saying hello, you idiots." he pointed out in perfect English. Timantha nearly burst into tears of relief. Yes! Somebody who spoke her language!

"Great! English!" she exclaimed, "You're the guys waiting for Caleb, right?"

"Depends." the now nonplussed young man flicking gems off the table like Skittles muttered, surprising Timantha with his own fluency in English, "You're the dead kid with the unsolved murder, right?" He propped a cheek on one hand, turning blue-violet eyes on the brunette with an impish smirk. "I can tell from the Threads of Fate all tangled up around you. You're supposed to be a boy, but you pulled a neat trick and got your Threads woven as a girl." he added. Timantha bristled, not liking the fact that someone could see through her disguise so easily. Threads of Fate? What kind of... ohhhh...

So that's why this was a Level Five that made Caleb twitchy.

"Are you the other one that put New York on alert?" Timantha demanded of the first young man that spoke, the dark one who now blinked at her in surprise.

"No. That would be me." the little boy muttered in irritation, a strange accent to his own English. He sat back and pulled his glasses off, pinching the bridge of his nose. Timantha burst into incredulous laughter. _Him?_ An elementary school kid was the Level Five Hero that had Caleb running around and putting the whole city on high alert too?

The kid growled, sounding like an enraged puppy, and the dark-skinned young man reached out to grab the back of his shirt, keeping him in his seat.

"Oi, Kudo! Calm down! The girl doesn't know anything! Didn't Caleb-san say that he'd keep things under wraps for us all while we're here in America?" he pointed out in exasperation as the door behind Timantha opened a second time.

"Yes, he did." Caleb answered for himself, shutting the door with one foot as his hands were busy with holding various files and sheets of data up for examination, "I also said I was going to be keeping the entire city under watch while you're here, Kudo. I don't want what happened last time to repeat itself." The boy jumped to stand on his seat, pointing at him in annoyance.

"That subway shootout was **not my fault**!" he yelled, his companions leaning back in their seats with exasperated looks on their faces, "All I wanted was to get Ran a souvenir!" The android glared back at him flatly.

"And we ended up with a hostage situation that went sour. Do you know how hard it is for me to pick and choose who to resurrect and who to leave dead to smooth things over with the media and keep us all out of their eyes?" he asked scathingly as the boy harrumphed and flopped back down in his chair, arms folded over his chest, "I don't like playing God, Kudo; don't make me do it again." He turned to glare at the mess of gems on the table before directing it at the other pale-skinned young man. "How many times have I told you to clean up after you're done playing with those?" he added dryly.

"Meh." the man returned lazily, draped backwards over his chair to the point of facing the opposite wall. He managed a shrug in that position and Timantha turned her head to one side to see how he could have done that without jamming a part of the chair into himself. "Not what I was looking for anyway. I'll wait for the next batch."

"Um, Caleb?" she asked in an unsure tone, "Luke said you brought in some Level Fives to help with my murder case, and they put New York on alert. Are these guys those Heroes, and why the heck are they able to do that?" The android snorted, walking to the table and gently smacking the little boy on the top of the head with the stack of files.

"Only one of them has the city on alert, and that's **this** one." he pointed out in irritation, scowling down at the boy that glared back, rubbing the top of his head, "Let me introduce you to the brightest minds I know in Japan." He set the files down on the table and gave the little boy a more affectionate pat on the shoulder, which the boy seemed to accept as an apology. "This is Conan Edogawa, but his real name is Shinichi Kudo, which is only allowed behind Archive walls. Outside of here, refer to him as Conan only."

"Are you in a witness protection program or something?" Timantha asked of the boy in surprise. Conan smirked at her with eyes that seemed too old for his age.

"Something." he replied. The android rolled his eyes and moved to gesture towards the dark-skinned man chuckling by the boy.

"This would be Heiji Hattori, a good friend of Kudo's." Caleb explained to Timantha. "Kudo and Hattori are incredibly gifted detectives, specializing in murders. They'll be investigating your case with the evidence your team brings in and Michael transmits to me." he explained, "Since you're going to need a very tight case against Remy, all based on some good sound **normal** science, these guys are your best bet to do it."

"Oh joy." Timantha sighed morosely, "My murder case in the hands of the Hardy Boys. I feel so much better about all this." Caleb chuckled, surprising the brunette, and he gave her words a dismissive wave.

"Don't worry. They're Heroes in their own right; trust in their skills." he remarked, then gestured towards the last young man, "And last but not least, this is Kaito Kuroba, an up-and-coming magician who moonlights as a phantom thief. He's been following his father's legacy in trying to find a specific gem." Timantha blinked in surprise.

"A criminal? You let a criminal into the Archives?" she asked incredulously, and Kaito took on affronted expression, finally sitting properly in his chair. Caleb shook his head.

"He's a special case, and in his own way, he is also a Hero. His ability to see and manipulate the Threads of Fate cancels out Kudo's 'unique' trait... which helps to ensure that New York City won't be having mass funerals for the next few days." the android explained vaguely before murmuring something to the two young men and the small boy in their own language. After a few nods of agreement, Caleb straightened and headed over to join Timantha. "Let's go. I still need to talk to you about something else and it's best to let them work on this without us watching. They're good at masking, but I know that they're very unnerved about you being here in the room with them when they know that _you're_ the murder victim." he whispered to her and gestured towards the door. Timantha flushed and nodded, turning to leave the room with the angelic android. She paused just before heading out, then turned back to look at the magician-thief, the one who could reweave Fate.

"Hey, um, Mr. Kuroba?" she called out uncertainly, "You can mess with Fate and all that junk, right? Could you... reweave **my** Threads to... make me alive again?" Kaito peered at her with narrowing eyes, almost considering the idea before shaking his head.

"Sorry. You're layered, and the Threads are still fraying between them." he returned, "Very cool, but very weird too. You're the first I've seen with that." He wiggled his fingers at her startled expression. "I mess with your Tapestries now, and you really won't like the results. But hey, on the bright side, it looks like a couple of them are already starting to pull away, so just keep doing what you're doing and that top layer's outta your hair." He grinned. "That bottom one's almost gone too. Don't worry about it."

Timantha left, worrying about it.

* * *

They walked the halls together, heading for one of Caleb's scattered offices. The android hadn't been too happy to learn that Anti-Cosmo had come along, and took a few minutes to seethe in silence before shoving it aside and returning to the task at hand.

"It turns out that I won't be able to have you tested to change your profile in terms of power level. You being a girl will throw off the sensors and give tainted results." he finally said, breaking that silence with a rather blunt sentence. Timantha blinked, then gaped at him.

"What? Then why have me come all this way?" she exclaimed and folded her arms over her chest, forgetting about her new figure as she scowled ahead of them both, "What a waste of time this was!"

"Not entirely a waste, no." Caleb corrected with some amount of annoyance before waving a hand in dismissal again, "I can't talk about it right now. Let's get to the Terrarium. I'll be better able to explain things at that point."

And with that they entered the room that was marked as Caleb's office, where Timantha discovered that it was actually another elevator, and the android hit a button for a floor that she never knew existed.

The elevator dropped Caleb and Timantha off in a vast room filled with all kinds of plants, vegetables, fruits, even small trees. The brunette looked around herself in awe as she followed behind the android, who led the way to the center of the lush garden. Had this always been down below the lowest levels of the Archives building?

"Don't get so overwhelmed by it." Caleb remarked suddenly, standing by a control stand in the midst of the garden. He grinned. "It's not real." he added and pressed something on the stand. The garden flickered and vanished, leaving behind several large glass tubes filling the room in rows, each one like a small little containment garden. Timantha jumped, hurrying to join the android and looking around a second time, this time in confusion. "This is the Terrarium. No one has ever set foot here, so you would be the first to see all of this." Caleb murmured with an almost wistful tone in his voice, "It's where I go to relax, calm myself, and..." He reached out to one of the glass columns, spreading his hand over it. "To be with those last bits of Symphonia that survived with me." he finished in a near whisper. Timantha peered into the columns with him, eyes wide at the plant life within each one.

Flowers and herbs, plants that she had never seen before in her entire life save for in pictures in the books Caleb wrote, grew within the protective environments of each column. In the back of the room was a large garden also full of unusual plants, growing in open air without the need for controlled weather. She jogged over to them, unaware of the android's small grin as she knelt in the soil, gazing at the plants with wide eyes.

"Wow... I thought these didn't exist anymore!" Timantha exclaimed, looking up when Caleb knelt by her, hand reaching out to stroke the rich crimson leaves of one particular plant.

"That's because they don't. Not in this world. The Terrarium is the only place in all of Earth where the satays from Symphonia's age grow. I use them in my cooking, remember?" he remarked softly. The brunette noticed the watery look to the angelic android's green eyes and felt a small twinge of sympathy. Cooking was a weakness of his -despite Caleb's constant reminders that his perfect neutrality meant he had none- since the act of preparing meals was associated with his memories of a friend long dead. A year or so before, Timmy had pointed it out to his older cousin after watching Caleb cook lunch for them one day with a near religious solemnity, curious about why he acted that way about cooking, of all things.

Danny had looked away from them both at that, swallowing hard before murmuring what he knew of the man that had once carried the fork that Caleb kept on him at all times. Timmy pointed out that he would also cook when annoyed or angry, and Danny looked at him for that one, a crooked grin on his face. He explained that it was because that same man would also annoy Caleb in that way only best friends could do and not get mauled over it. And then Caleb would tap on a dish loudly to show he had heard what they were talking about, and the halfa would shut up with a vaguely uncomfortable look on his face that vanished once the food was set down. The whole Wonder Chef thing seemed to be a touchy subject for both Danny and Caleb, so Timmy didn't pry any further.

"What about those other plants?" Timantha asked, curious about the ones that grew in the glass columns. She hopped up and darted towards one, pressing her nose and palms against the glass to peer into closed off chamber. Caleb joined her there, one hand resting delicately against the glass as well.

"These plants are all from Symphonia, and because they're Elemental, I have to keep them in highly controlled environments to make sure they grow and survive." he explained and looked in on the crystalline flowers sparkling in their snowy chamber, "This is Celsius Tear, a flower that grows in locations where Celsius, the Summon Spirit of Ice, lives. It can freeze anything it touches, so specially crafted gloves must be worn to handle the flower."

Timantha drifted from the glass towards another, gazing in at a cluster of red flowers growing from rock that was surrounded by what looked like churning lava.

"Those are Fireblossoms. Named them after someone I knew and cared very much about a long time ago. They grew where Ifrit's influence was felt most." the android remarked, sounding sad and nostalgic all at the same time.

"If I'm not here to do the retest," Timantha asked carefully, moving on to another capsule where flowers of an unknown color blossomed under a strange blue light, surrounded by otherwise untouchable darkness, "then why have me come to New York?" Caleb walked to join the brunette at the capsule, gazing into it as well.

"We finished our internal investigation about the stolen aionis, and discovered something unusual on our camera systems." the android murmured, reaching into his coat and bringing out a photo to pass to her, "The thieves look a great deal like fairies, but they didn't register as such on our scanners. I thought you might have an idea what they are." Timantha looked up at him, puzzled as she took the photo in hand, then looked down to study the image.

She uttered a sharp gasp, one hand rising to cover her mouth as her eyes widened in shock. She knew these creatures, knew them all too well. Caleb lifted an eyebrow, but waited patiently for an answer.

"Pixies..." Timantha breathed, stunned by her own admission, "Pixies stole the shipment."

"I've heard of them, but I'm still not very familiar with the term. What are pixies?" Caleb asked softly, gazing down at the photo of the short little men in sunglasses, drab gray suits and hats, and their squared-off wings. They were captured lifting the cargo crates with magic, holding up small cell phones instead of wands.

"They're called the opposites of fairies." Timantha explained, throat suddenly feeling dry as she passed the photo back. Her head seemed to swim, her heart pounded harder than the normal pace her tiny _Lightning_ spell set, and everything seemed to swirl around her, like the whole world had just been dumped in the toilet and given a massive Swirlie. "Pixies find boring things to be fun; all work **is** their play. They've had their eyes set on taking over Fairy World and our world for the longest time. Had lots of plans for doing it too. Never quite pulled them off." She turned around and leaned back against the glass tube, just let her back thud against it as she lifted her hand to her forehead, trying to make sense of it.

"I've not seen any evidence of this." Caleb remarked in mild surprise and Timantha shook her head.

"They only try once every thirty years, and each time they fail to take over Fairy World. Then I got involved in their normal schemes and they decided to take over both worlds in their next big plan." she replied quietly, "They'd already had it in motion, just made last minute adjustments when I started screwing up their stuff. And the sad thing was that it was my fault their thirty-year plan that time actually worked." Timantha chuckled, a faintly sad tone to it, "Man, was I stupid. You remember a time the whole world was ruled by kids? Or made over to look like some clown-painted, office-supply prison camp?" She looked up at Caleb for his reaction; he merely gazed back in silence.

"Faintly." he murmured, "I recall seeing a wave of ultra-mana magic passing over the area I was in, a quick glimpse of children taking government office, and suddenly I was lying in a chamber in the lab here at the Archives. Whatever had occurred used incompatible magic with my systems at the time, and as a safety measure I was shut down until the level of mana in the world was stable again. I'm still not sure; I haven't asked my sister exactly what happened, but I mentioned it once and she looked rather displeased with just the mentioning." Timantha laughed, shaking her head. She had seen Martel before, a brief visit in the early days of her existence as Timothy Neogene, and imagining a scowl on that divinely serene face was just plain funny.

"Well, I managed to undo their plan and it severely ticked them off. Said that they'd get me in their next big plan." she mused, "But I don't know why they'd be interested in your aionis. We're nowhere near the thirty-year mark for their next takeover plot."

They stood in silence like that for a while, the android watching the young immortal as she just remained slumped against the glass. It was a bit eerie, knowing that pixies had just pinged into the Archives and taken off with a load of aionis. Timantha turned that over in her head; for some reason, it felt like something about that knowledge should hit harder than did.

"Has it ever occurred to you that these pixies may be working with Remy?" Caleb finally asked and Timantha jerked her head up to stare at him with wide eyes, baffled by his words. The redhead gave a light shrug, tilting his head as he seemed to consider things more deeply than the immortal. "The aionis that was stolen from here was turned into that device that siphoned your mana, and the remainder of that became the scepter that is currently causing you problems in Dimmsdale. Pixies stole that metal, and Remy somehow came into possession of it." he explained patiently, "That wouldn't be possible unless the two of them cooperated on the matter."

Timantha thought that through herself, eyebrows furrowed together in concentration even as the confused look stayed on her face. Remy and the pixies? Working together? No way; fairies despised pixies as much as the other way around, and Remy had Juandissimo with him. There wouldn't be any way the two races would ever set aside their differences for anything. And what would they gain from giving an aionis device to Remy in the first place?

"I don't see how they could work together. Remy's too interested in getting things his way, and the pixies won't do anything for anyone unless there's something in it for them that'll screw over everyone else in the end." she remarked at last. Caleb made some small sound of noncommittal, a neutral tone that was neither agreement or disagreement. A humming of sorts that seemed to annoy the heck out of Danny whenever Caleb did it; at the time, Timmy had no idea why it was that his older cousin would make such a face at the sound -he'd look like he caught someone painting his space shuttle model Barbie Doll Pink- and today, Timantha **still** didn't get it.

"Just keep an open mind about it. That's all." the redhead finally remarked and brushed his fingertips against the glass behind the brunette, "Lapis Lustrare Arcanum. It's a breed of flower that went extinct and I managed to recreate using a close relative of the original species. They grow in pitch black darkness, the tiniest photon of light will make them wither; luckily, the light of the blue candle is harmless to them. Very difficult to grow and maintain." Timantha blinked and looked over her shoulder through the glass, gazing at the cluster of flowers beyond it.

"They're pretty." she finally murmured, and Caleb hummed in appreciation. "I need to get a dress for the party. Anything good available?"

"I can get you access to Versace's latest designs." the android replied, stepping back and lifting his arms as his clothing shifted over his body, glowing white with the changes. It faded and settled into the familiar deep blue business suit and leather tie-strap that was normal wear for the identity of Hounder, billionaire philanthropist. "I think it's time the CEO of the Hounder Organization made an appearance anyway. Give the paparazzi something new to work on." He grinned and slipped his hands into his pockets as Timantha snickered and followed him out of the Terrarium.


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: This took faaaar too long to get back to, but here it is at last. As up to date as the dA version, I hope.

So we last left the gang setting up the competing Halloween parties as part of a plan to get Remy to let down his guard so Timantha and her team can get into his manor and rescue Tootie and Romi. However, things get a little tricky...

* * *

17

The next forty-eight hours had been a blur of activity for both sides involved in the war of Halloween parties. From booking DJs and caterers, to snapping up as many party supplies as possible, Remy and Michael clashed in every way possible aside from an all-out magic war, a war that Michael would most likely lose if the gloves were thrown down. Even though Remy had little experience with manipulating the stolen mana, it was still more than what the android could do with his repertoire of ancient spells. Even worse was the fact that the moment Michael cast one of those, his cover would be blown. The whole team would know that he wasn't the real Timmy Turner.

So the clashes were restricted to grabbing up things for the two parties, competing for the best treats and favors.

Timantha kept out of sight as much as she could after returning from New York with A.J. in tow. The teen genius had gotten the updates for the mana field generator and busily set to work applying those upgrades. Trixie had squealed with delight at seeing the dress Timantha had gotten while away, waving a gossip magazine about wildly as the brunette hung up the evening gown for display in one of the Ivory Tower's spare rooms.

"Oh my gosh, you went out and got a _real_ Gucci dress with Caleb? But the magazines call him Hounder so that means he really **is** Hounder, just changed his clothes and put on a pair of sunglasses!" she exclaimed. Timantha gave her a weak smile, nodding in agreement. That day had been more hectic because of the cameras and her own finickiness in the dress she needed. Something distracting, but with enough flow and give that she'd be able to run for it and leap and flip if things went south. In the end, Caleb had dragged her into the offices of the Gucci designers and requested something specifically tailored to her list of needs.

That dress was one of a kind, and priced high enough to make Timantha want to breathe into a paper bag for a month straight. She had actually conjured one behind her back and held it to her face for her first session when the redhead wrote out a check on the spot to pay for the costs. He snatched the bag from her hands and gave her a stern look about it.

"He has several identities to keep his organization under control and still get all the things he's doing actually done." Timantha explained vaguely, "Hounder acts the most like Zelos, so when Caleb needs to be somewhere at the same time as Hounder, he just gets one of the Zelos androids to take his place for a while." She fingered the fabric of the dress, worrying over the plans being made. Despite knowing how everything was going to be set up, masterminding the plans for the party and the infiltration, she still had that deep concern for Tootie. Was she at least being treated okay in that room? Remy wouldn't let her starve, right?

"So did he ask you out?" Trixie suddenly asked, a sly smirk on her face as she nudged Timantha with her shoulder. The brunette yelped, eyes wide and face flushing.

"Wh-what?" she exclaimed, turning to the former Popular with a shocked expression. Trixie giggled behind her hand, winking at her.

"You knoooow~!" she cooed in return, "That A.J. kid! He's got a serious crush on you, didn't you notice? Did he try to ask you out to Remy's party? Did you say yes? C'mon, girlfriend, I need _details_!"

Timantha's face went blank, mind racing as a stream of 'This isn't happening!'s went screaming through her brain. Oh good Lord, Trixie couldn't _possibly_ be trying to set the two of them up on a **date**, was she? Oh, gross, gross, gross! But she forced a wide smile that felt more like a grimace and shook her head.

"Ah, n-not really. He might have said something about the party, but I didn't quite catch what he said." she replied and the other teen planted her hands on her hips, eyebrow lifting as she gazed at Timantha's expression.

"Geez, if he's gonna be like that, then maybe he's not good enough to date my best girl friend." she mused aloud and shrugged, "Well, we'll see. Halloween's tomorrow, both parties are set to start at eight pm that night." She reached into her purse and pulled out a flier, holding it up for Timantha to see. "Look, Remy had hundreds of these posted all over Dimmsdale!" she added, pointing at the wording on the paper, "He claims he's going to unveil some great surprise that 'will ease the pain of Dimmsdale' or something. What if it has something to do with the Spires?"

"We won't know till my team's there to check out the mansion and rescue Tootie." the brunette sighed, but took the flier into her hand with a worried look. Whatever that surprise was, it couldn't be enough of an attraction to pull people away from the safety of the party in the park, right?

"By the way, Chester's been talking to the police here a lot lately." Trixie added somberly, leaning back against the wall beside the dress. Timantha gave her a surprised look and the former Popular gave a sad little smile as she kept her eyes on her shoes, twisting her foot from side to side as if to examine her toes. "All the evidence we've managed to collect, he handed over to the Chief of Police himself." she went on, "We're hoping that, maybe, after the Halloween parties were over, they'll reopen Timmy's case and start a new investigation. And maybe they'll use our evidence to prove Remy caused his death."

"I thought Timmy said he didn't really like that idea." Timantha remarked cautiously, and she still didn't like it too much. There was no reason to put Dimmsdale through that much pain again, like pulling the scab off a wound that hadn't fully healed yet and letting it bleed out a second time.

"He doesn't, but we're doing it anyway." Trixie returned haughtily, tossing her head so her hair flowed around her shoulders in that way that Timantha once found mesmerizing as a living ten-year-old boy. "We want the city to know the truth of what happened that day."

"And then what?" Timantha asked, frowning as she planted her hands on her hips. Trixie gave her a blank look and the brunette rolled her eyes. "Once Dimmsdale finds out that Remy murdered Timmy, what do you think will happen? This whole city's dumber than a rock; what's the first thing stupid people do? I mean, they already did it once when they found out about the Spires falling."

The Popular blinked a few times, rolled her eyes in thought, then laughed nervously, helplessly, as she hunched her shoulders. Timantha scowled. Yeah, they would; another riot, much larger and far more hostile this time, and there would be no chance of a fair trial. The entire city would fall on Remy and rip the boy apart to create the second death of a child in their history. And knowing how Dimmsdale would reason things -which would be badly, of course, because of how stupid they collectively are- this one would be justified simply because 'they were doing it for the Heart of Dimmsdale'.

She wasn't having that.

"Just leave the case in Caleb's hands. He's got some other Heroes working on turning it into something that can put Remy in jail **alive** so Dimmsdale can get what it wants without having to dig another kiddie-size hole in the ground." Timantha pointed out sternly, "I... I mean, Timmy doesn't want more people dying for his sake! Don't you get that?" The other girl said nothing, just frowned prettily and glared at the far wall. Timantha watched her a moment longer, then sighed. "Let's just get Tootie and Romi back first. We'll worry about everything else after that." she remarked quietly, and Trixie nodded in agreement.

* * *

Undisclosed location~

The pieces of aluminum foil had managed to be just enough for Tootie to create a small rod of flimsy metal, almost like a pathetic wand of sorts. Whether it would hold up long enough to let her cast _Thunder Arrow_ again on the door was an entirely different matter. She wasn't sure it would last very long, so she held off on using it. Right now, though, Tootie's concern was a strange feeling she'd been having for the past couple of days, a faint headache and odd itching that seemed to be under her skin and just wouldn't leave her be no matter how much she rubbed.

It almost felt like her body was trying to shrink.

Romi spent her time resting nearby, eating the little magical orbs now and then to boost her magic supply. There was a powerful nullifier field around them and Tootie had worried that it would affect her fairy godmother badly, but the orbs seemed to keep her in one piece. At least she hadn't complained about being any worse off than the occasional headache of her own.

"It's possible that Timothy could be planning a rescue. He wouldn't ever leave one of his friends in the hands of his enemies." the fairy remarked, trying her best to keep her godchild cheered up, "Well, not for too long, I hope."

"Heh, heh, yeah. I know he'll come for us." Tootie agreed with a wry smile, rubbing at her arms as she waited for sleep to come, "Knowing him, it'll be big and flashy, so Remy gets the idea to back the hell off. But I just **know** I'm gonna miss out on Halloween, which is gonna suck." She thumped the back of her head against the wall with a sigh. "And I was planning on doing stuff with Sam, too... what a bummer."

* * *

Halloween came far too soon, as did the evening hours. Timantha stared out the window at the setting sun with a sense of dread, dressed in the beautiful gown that Caleb had custom-made for her. Made of a durable satin and colored a deep royal blue, it clung close to her body up top, with a v-neck that displayed a bit more of her cleavage than she was comfortable with. From the waist down, it flared out subtly, with slits on either side of her rising up to mid-thigh, just enough to give her the freedom of movement she wanted. It all clasped back behind her in loops through a silver ring. Opera gloves of matching color, strappy heels in shiny black faux leather, a choker bearing the Heart of Dimmsdale emblem strapped around her throat, and the promised 'magic bracelets' she'd conjured in her spare time completed the ensemble.

Well, almost.

"I take it I'm not the only one feeling uneasy about what will transpire tonight?" Anti-Cosmo murmured beside her, fluttering his bat's wings as he gazed out at the city. People were already leaving their homes, in costumes or in fancy dress, depending on which party they were attending. It seemed like the city was still divided; from what Timantha could see, an equal number of citizens were going to the party in the park and the ball at Remy's mansion.

"Yeah. Something's going to go wrong. I just don't know where or how." the brunette replied softly, hands gripping the windowsill. She leaned out, closed her eyes and just let the cool breeze play over her face and hair. Just for a moment, she wanted to pretend that none of this existed, that she wasn't a girl and undead and fighting to save her hometown, that all the stress and fear and hurt and fury was someone else's problem and all she had to do was just stand there and feel at home in the wind.

"Girlfriend, if you don't get back in here before you ruin that hair I spent hours brushing, I'm gonna smack your butt." Trixie's voice cut into the young immortal's thoughts. With a yelp of surprise, she pulled herself back inside as Anti-Cosmo poofed himself into the earring guise, dangling down in an elegant design to match her dress. Once assured that his cover wasn't blown she looked over at the older girl, jaw dropping at her outfit.

The familiar apparel of the Amity Park Goth looked so bizarre on Trixie; really, what possessed her to dress like Sam Manson? The Asian grinned and spun on her heels, the combat boots strange on her feet as she did a twirl. "What do you think?" she asked of Timantha, "I want to see the look on Tootie-Fruitie's face when she gets back and sees me dressed up as her Goth idol. It'll be **so** worth it!" Timantha just blinked rapidly before bursting into laughter.

It felt good to laugh and Trixie's confidence that Tootie would be back with them in order to see the outfit bolstered her own. From the looks of the smile on Trixie's face, that seemed like the effect she wanted. The anti-fairy on her ear just huffed under his breath in that faintly exasperated way that someone who didn't really mean it would use.

"Thanks for that, Trixie." the brunette returned warmly, "I really needed the boost." They both smiled at each other, then jumped collectively when Chester stuck his head in the doorway and yelled out to them.

"Hurry it up, guys! I mean, gals!" he declared, waving an arm at them excitedly, "We're doing last minute briefs in the war room before we split into teams!" The girls nodded and Trixie began following the blonde before pausing to look back at Timantha.

"I'll catch up in a bit." the brunette told her and pointed at her bare ear, "Gotta find my other earring." A good excuse for just a bit more private time. The other girl nodded again and hurried off, makeshift ponytail bouncing as she ran. Once alone, Timantha headed back to the window and looked out again, this time with her eyes on the remaining three Dark Spires still standing, puncturing the sky over the city in the dying light of day. That sense of dread had receded, but still it lurked just under her thoughts.

.

The last minute briefing just confirmed everything the team knew they'd be doing that night. A.J., Chester, Mark Chang and Timantha would be going to Remy's party to rescue Tootie and Romi. The three boys would be responsible for getting through the hall of nullifiers and destroying them so they could rescue the two without harm. Timantha was to be on hand for combating Remy if the boy billionaire tried using the aionis staff and Timmy's stolen mana against them.

"You could always try flirting with him to keep him distracted." Trixie suggested to the brunette with a laugh.

"Ew, gross! No!" Timantha immediately rejected the idea. A.J. nodded emphatically, agreeing with her.

"He's not even her type!" he declared, waving a hand around wildly in the air. The group stared at him, blinking in unison, before going back to looking towards Michael, the android still posing as Timothy Neogene.

"Timantha will do what she can to keep Remy off your backs, okay?" he remarked with one eyebrow raised quizzically, a hand resting on his hip, "Why are we even arguing over **how** she does it?"

"So we go in-side the puny human's dwelling and retrieve the Tootie while the other Tur-ner does... whatever." Mark parroted for his own sake and nodded, "Good plan."

"While you twerps are doing that, Timmy's gonna host the party in the park with the rest of us." Vicky added, waving one of the party fliers before herself, "Chip's gonna do some song to remind everybody who the real Heart of Dimmsdale is. That should be enough to keep eyes on us so you'll have an easier time getting my sis and her toy back."

"Then we all know our roles. Remember, we've only got one shot at this." Michael remarked firmly, looking at each member of the team to be sure they understood the seriousness of the situation, "We can't wish for a do-over; we still have three Spires up and that's strong enough to screw up a big wish like that. So make this **count**."

* * *

Buxaplenty Manor~

Rented limousines and cars pulled through the drive-around, dropping off party-goers dressed in their very best outfits. The manor grounds were beautifully decorated with black ribbons and streamers, glittering as though dusted with crushed diamonds. The manor was full of lights, strings of them hung from trees and bushes where ribbons weren't already placed, and people either lingered around outside, admiring the views, or were streaming into the manor itself.

Timantha stepped out of the rented limo, worried gaze fixed on the manor as she bit delicately into her lower lip. That dread feeling had never really gone away. A.J. stepped up beside her, a concerned expression on his face.

"Everything okay, Timantha?" he asked her. The brunette blinked and gave him a weak smile, nodding despite feeling far from okay. "Well, Mark and Chester are already heading inside, so we should be going too." the boy genius murmured and started fidgeting nervously, "Um, uh, w-would you l-like to-?"

"It'd be better if we went separately." Timantha interrupted softly. Need to nip **that** in the bud, if only for her own sake. A.J. looked down, the sting of rejection on his face, and she immediately felt bad for it. "As, um, nice -yeah, nice- as it would be to go in with you, I need to keep myself separate from The Others in order to keep Remy distracted without making him suspicious." she added quickly, "It's not you, really! We just have to focus on our mission."

"Right! Date later, Tootie now." A.J. huffed with renewed confidence and self-importance. He marched towards the steps, moving stiffly as he made his way into the manor. Timantha watched him until he vanished inside, then sighed heavily. One of her earrings twitched in response.

"Are you still thinking something is going to go wrong?" Anti-Cosmo whispered.

"Yeah, it's really messing with my focus." Timantha muttered and pressed her fingers to her forehead, "But then, it's been going in and out for a while now. I can't seem to hold my thoughts together for long. Is this part of being a girl in her teens?" She pinched the bridge of her nose, then pulled her hand down and shook her head. "It doesn't matter. I just need to keep it together long enough to free Tootie and Romi." the brunette decided and took a deep breath before making her own way to the manor.

.

Inside the manor was a sight to behold. The main foyer and nearly every room she could see was full of people, drinking champagne and nibbling on appetizers, chatting with others and dancing in the ballroom where a small orchestra played. Timantha felt more lost than when she went through the place back when she was rescuing Apollo and Chester. Where would Remy be when his mansion was full of random people?

She drifted from room to room, giving polite smiles as greetings to some of the party-goers while she searched. The guy **had** to be around here somewhere, lording it up and waving that scepter with her stolen mana around like he was some kind of mini-emperor. And... there go her thoughts again, scattering wildly before she could rein them back in. She wandered back to the ballroom, looking around herself for any glimpse of white tuxedo and blonde hair she could find. Nothing.

"Tch. If he's not going to be here, then I'm going to join the guys at the hallway." Timantha muttered under her breath, "With you and Anti-Wanda with me, I won't be affected by the nullifier field." Anti-Cosmo just hummed, a tone of concern painting the sound. Not satisfied with the response, the young immortal turned on her heel and stepped out of the ballroom, unaware of the pair of eyes that had been watching her every move.

"Wanda...?"

.

She found the boys trying to covertly destroy the half-spheres lining the corridor. Primly-dressed men and women kept wandering around the area, which meant A.J. and Chester were constantly scrambling to yank Mark back from the corridor and whistle as they loitered around the entrance, trying to look like they weren't up to anything. Timantha grinned at the sight. How often had she done the same thing herself in other, similar situations?

"Having trouble, guys?" she asked with a laugh as she approached the group. They looked her way in surprise, A.J. jumping to attention with a broad smile on his face.

"Some, yeah. Every time we get set up to destroy these things, some idiot comes bumbling by, asking if this is the way to the bathroom." Chester griped, jerking a thumb over his shoulder at the rest of the party-goers in general. A.J. nodded and gave Mark a suspicious glare.

"On top of that, what Mark here **did** manage to shoot out was done using a laser blaster I've never seen before." he added, "Like... alien technology." Timantha stiffened, eyes shooting over to look at the disguised alien in his green tuxedo who just stood there smiling hugely at them in complete obliviousness. She was greatly reminded of Cosmo just then, and for a split-second wondered how he and Wanda were doing with Michael. "Hey, Mark; where'd you get that blaster?" A.J. asked.

"Tur-ner says that everything I use comes from the IN-ter-net!" Mark declared, throwing his arms -and the blaster- up into the air. He brought them straight down at his sides, still smiling widely, then abruptly stuck them out to catch the quite-obviously-alien blaster gun before it could hit the floor and go off.

Three pairs of eyes just stared at him in silence.

"Uh, right." Chester muttered, "That kid is just too _weird_. And we hang out with the undead one."

"Hey!" Timantha protested indignantly and the blonde lifted his hands with a shrug.

"No offense to your cousin, but you gotta admit it would be kind of weird to be undead." he amended. The 'undead' kid sighed and let her shoulders droop helplessly. Couldn't be helped; he was kind of right.

"Ugh, can we forget about that right now and get on with saving Tootie and Romi?" she finally griped and pointed towards the adjoining hallway that still had people loitering around in search of the ever-elusive bathroom, "I'm going to build an illusion around us. Maybe that'll keep other people away long enough for you guys to finish destroying those nullifiers."

"But magic doesn't work around them." A.J. pointed out with a raised eyebrow, "That's the reason why we need to destroy them."

"I'm using a different kind of magic. Just trust me on this!" Timantha declared in exasperation and focused as hard as she could on the image in her mind. A bubble of deep violet grew out from around her, shifting around as it molded itself to match the image in her mind. A wall, solid brick, to appear as if it cut off access to the corridor from the adjoining hallway; she built the illusion and then placed it firmly before herself, backing into the corridor to avoid breaking it in case someone tried to get through and tripped over her.

"Did you just conjure a solid brick wall?" A.J. questioned in surprise while Mark turned around and started firing a steady beam of energy at a nullifier, Chester taking a baseball bat to another one. "I thought Timmy was the only human who could conjure stuff!"

"It's not conjuring!" Timantha growled, "And be quiet! I haven't got the sound-proofing part of the illusion put in place." She strained to fit the idea of silence into the wall, cutting off the noise in the corridor from anyone on the other side of the illusion. When had dark magic become such a difficult thing to work with? As much as she didn't like it, she'd been able to manipulate it just as easily as her regular magic. Now it was like trying to mold quick-drying cement instead of clay. Once the illusion was in place, she carefully relaxed, keeping an eye on the wall to be sure it held without her constant concentration.

"It appears to be holding, but I wouldn't count on it lasting for very long." Anti-Cosmo whispered, Timantha's other earring dangling about merrily. She counted herself doubly lucky -funny to say that with anti-fairies so close to her- that Anti-Wanda decided to just watch everything in silence and that the color earrings the couple chose to disguise themselves as was dark enough to hide the tiny black crowns emblazoned on the studs holding the long teardrop-shaped accents.

She nodded and put one last mental shove out to get the barrier in place. "There. It's not gonna last us all night, so hurry up." Timantha breathed out.

* * *

Remy was finding it more and more difficult to keep the false smile on his face as he stood by the model of a park with the little statue of himself shaking hands with the toy Timmy. People would come into the display room and 'ooh' or 'aah' over the model, clapping their hands and nodding approvingly. Though he was certain this was gaining him a lot of merit towards becoming the new Heart of Dimmsdale, the strain of having all these plebeians in his beautiful home was beginning to wear on his nerves.

On top of that, Juandissimo had the nerve to disappear into the party as well, claiming he just wanted to check up on things. He must have remembered that he had yet to meet his quota of preening in front of a mirror...

Still, things were going well. A great number of people had appeared for his party, probably far more than were going to the mongrel's little 'shindig' or whatever.

He tapped his fingers on the crystal ball holding the orb of mana, his smile becoming a bit more genuine. Yes, everything was going perfectly. He had magical power of his own, the idiots of Dimmsdale were practically eating from his hand and even with only three Spires up, the mongrel wasn't doing anything to them with the little Goth brat in his possession. This Halloween was going _splendidly_.

With that thought in mind, Remy decided to grace the masses with his presence and left the display room.

* * *

"Can't you go any _faster_?" Timantha demanded after a while. Watching the guys break nullifiers down at what felt like a crawl was getting to her. Mark was burning through them just fine, a few seconds with the alien laser and the nullifier sphere was just sludge on the floor. Chester, however, was taking too long in smashing the bat against them. The wood was splintering and he hadn't even gone through five of them!

"Man, are all girls pushy like this?" Chester grumbled under his breath, "Or is it just the magical ones?"

"Oh for crying out loud..." Timantha groused and stomped down the hallway herself, "Chester, stop it. I'm gonna need you and A.J. to work on breaking down that door. These nullifiers are **mine**." She stretched an arm out, hand open and facing the remaining devices down his half of the corridor. Mark could handle his half just fine, and should be done by the time the boys opened the door.

Chester just rolled his eyes and headed for the locked door with the boy genius at his side. "You seriously wanna date that chick?" he asked the other. A.J. just made several indecipherable noises that sounded like his tongue went into spasms outside his mouth, a dreamy look on his face. The blonde half-swore he saw little hearts floating around him. "You have some strange taste in girls." Chester sighed. "Then again, girls have strange tastes in guys, too." he amended, thinking of Trixie and Tootie both.

The two of them bent to work on prying open the door, jumping at the sound of several small explosions behind them. They spun around in shock, eyes wide and jaws dropped at the sight of the wall of nullifiers smoking, empty holes where the devices had been, now nothing more than shattered pieces of metal, hard plastic and silicon scattered over the floor. Mark was laughing maniacally, burning a line through the wall now, indiscriminately searing laser-fire through panel and nullifiers alike. Timantha just stood there, waving her hand free of lingering smoke and blowing over it with a faint grimace.

"That was strange. Dark magic's never burned me like that before." she grumbled, "Something's definitely not right."

The rest of the nullifiers finally melted into slag and dripped all over the floor. Mark pumped his fists into the air in victory. "Now to retrieve the Tootie!" he declared and ran for the door, arms still above his head, "Banzaaaai!"

"Ah! Wait! Don't go in yet! The door's still locked!" Chester and A.J. both exclaimed frantically, waving their hands before themselves. Timantha watched from where she stood, wincing at the loud crash of bodies and wood splintering as Mark barreled through the door like a bull.

"Well, that's one way of doing this." she remarked offhandedly, folding her arms under her bust, "I hope you three didn't land right on top of Tootie!" There was silence and she raised an eyebrow, tilting her head slightly. "Guys? You okay in there?"

Wood shifted around, things crashed a bit more, and Chester finally stumbled out of the room on unsteady legs, head hanging as he braced himself against the doorway by one arm. His clothes were torn and dusty from the collision. Timantha stared at him, dread coiling in the pit of her stomach as her face paled. Something had gone wrong; that awful feeling from earlier had been right all along.

"Chester! What happened?" she finally demanded in fear.

"Timmy got played. We **all** got played." the blonde answered in a flat, dead tone. A.J. and Mark stepped out after him as well, looking defeated, their tuxedos ripped and dirty as well.

"What do you mean? What's going on?" the brunette demanded of them, her voice shaky. Chester just lifted his free hand, a simple black wand topped with a gold star clutched tightly in his fist. Timantha gasped, eyes wide in realization. "That's... that's Romi's wand... isn't it?" she murmured, more statement than question.

"Yeah. The Fairy Wand Locator couldn't find it, so we assumed that it meant Tootie and Romi were being held in places with nullifier fields." the boy genius explained as if she were clueless, "Chester already checked Bender's office with Chip, and she wasn't there."

"That left this place, the same place I was held prisoner for a while earlier this year." Chester growled, "But she's not here, both of them aren't here! All that was in there was the damn wand!"

"Well, then if Tootie and Romi aren't in there and they weren't at Bender's, then where could Remy be keeping them? There's no way of tracking either of them without some kind of GPS tracking chip on them!" Timantha cried, hands flying up to her head, "What am I going to tell Vicky? She's going to **murder** me!"

"She'll probably take it out on Timmy, not you." A.J. pointed out. Which in her mind was even worse since the role of 'Timmy' was currently being played by Michael, and if Vicky got her hands on him...

"Brr... that's not going to end well." she whimpered, clutching her arms in a huddle, "Caleb won't hit a girl, Caleb won't hit a girl... no, some of the bad guys he faced **were** girls. He'll hit a girl... he'll _own_ on a girl..."

"Tough luck, Brahs. No Tootie to retrieve here." Mark commiserated with them for all of three seconds before perking right back up, patting the boys on the shoulder cheerfully, "Well, I'm gonna hit the dumpster out back before they start chucking that hi-de-ous good food into it! Catch ya later, dudes!" And he dashed off before anyone could think to call him back.

"He'll be fine. Remy still has no clue he's with The Others." Timantha sighed, rubbing her head, "But now we're back to square one! Where the heck are Tootie and Romi being held?"

From behind her back, a familiar accented voice spoke up. "I may be willing to tell you that bit of _informac__ió__n_... **if** you will help **me** with something first." Juandissimo offered with a dark purr. Timantha spun around, glaring furiously at him as A.J. and Chester both straightened themselves, scanning the area quickly for signs of Remy. "Have no fear, my little flowerbud. Remy is catering to his ego for now." the vain fairy told her with a smarmy smile that fell into a thin little smirk, "However, my offer stands only if your gentlemen guards leave this place."

"Why you little-!" A.J. yelled, stomping towards the fairy and looking ready to pummel him. Timantha threw out an arm to bar his way, eyes narrowed at Juandissimo.

"Hang on." she muttered and then raised her voice, "How do I know you're not just gonna turn me over to Remy? Why should I believe you when you say you'll tell me where Tootie and Romi are?"

"I give my word as an honorable fairy, I will tell you if the gentlemen leave and you help me." Juandissimo returned and clapped a hand over his heart dramatically, "I swear it upon my love for _mi amor_, Wanda!" Timantha raised an eyebrow at him before turning to the two boys growling behind her.

"Go find Mark and get out of here. Head back to the others at the park and tell them what happened here." she whispered quickly, "I'm going with Juandissimo." At the pair of outraged cries of protest, she simply shook her head. "He swore on his love for Wanda; that's not something he takes lightly, so I'll trust him for now." the brunette told them, then gave them a small smile, "I'll be fine, you guys. Just go and make sure Remy doesn't see you, or call Timmy and have him wish you over to the park."

A.J. didn't look entirely convinced but Chester blinked, then straightened himself up to his full height, looking down at her with a stern gaze, as if to dare her to try hiding any doubts about the situation she was getting into. She just stared back, glowering up at him. Eventually, the blonde nodded and turned to the dubious third member of their group.

"She'll be okay, A.J., so chill. Let's get the weird kid and get wished to the park." Chester told him, "We need to get a jump start on coming up with a new plan anyway." He started walking out of the corridor, clutching the wand in one hand and giving Juandissimo a dark glare as he passed. A.J. hesitated for a few moments, giving Timantha a worried look before he sighed and followed the Leader of The Others out as well.

With them gone, Timantha focused her attention on the fairy still hovering before her, scowling in displeasure. "All right, Juandissimo. You've got my attention. What do you want?" she growled.

"Come with me. There is something I need you to open for me." Juandissimo murmured and fluttered his wings, flying out of the corridor and down the adjoining hallway.

"This may just be paranoia speaking in place of logic, but has that feeling of dread left you yet?" Anti-Cosmo asked quietly. Timantha shook her head slowly. "Hm. It hasn't left me either. Tread most carefully, dear _nece_."

She swallowed hard and began walking, keeping herself alert for any chance of a double-cross.

.

Down below, Remy happened to glance up at the movement of people on the hallway above him, the sight of a wall blocking off his nullifier-filled corridor giving him reason to pause in confusion. How had that gotten there? His gaze swept over the walkway and landed on the figure of a girl dressed in deep blue and black, a brunette. She had a peculiar expression for a high-class citizen of Dimmsdale, a very determined and wary look on her face.

She looked like she knew something the rest of the plebs didn't.

"Hm. And where are **you** off to, my dear?" Remy muttered under his breath, gripping the scepter tightly. This bore investigation...


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: This took faaaar too long to get back to, but here it is at last. As up to date as the dA version, I hope.

When we last left the gang, the boys on Timantha's rescue team were sent away from the manor as part of a deal with Juandissimo to find the location of Tootie and Romi. But what exactly is it Remy's fairy godfather wants Timantha to do for him? And why?

* * *

18

"So I read in the flier that Remy had some big surprise for the people of Dimmsdale." Timantha remarked in an all too casual tone, her expression flat as she walked beside Juandissimo. Her gaze slid aside to the fairy. "You wouldn't happen to catch a glimpse of it, would you?"

"It's nothing." Juandissimo muttered defensively, leading the brunette onwards up another flight of stairs, "You focus on the Spires; everything else is..." He gestured aimlessly with his wand. _"Nada por nada."_

Timantha raised an eyebrow after picking out the translation. 'Nothing for nothing?' So whatever Remy was planning didn't matter at all, or Juandissimo was covering up for the guy and it was actually something game-changing. She shook her head clear of the thoughts. No, right now, it **was** nothing; she had to concentrate on learning where Tootie and Romi were so they could be rescued.

They soon came to a set of thick doors, made with a darkly stained wood that would be quite beautiful if the young immortal was of the mind to admire them. Glancing around, Juandissimo checked the area before waving his wand and opening the doors. He floated in first, with Timantha warily scanning the dim room as she stepped inside. For the briefest of moments, she wished she had the Blue Crystal Rod with her, but there was just no way to bring something like that to this kind of party without giving herself away.

A large fireplace set against the western wall and crackling with a warm and sizable flame illuminated the room partially. She could see shelves of books and elegant carpeting and furniture, a large and impressive wooden desk on the other side of the room, and animal trophies decorating the walls alongside antiques and anything made with gold or marble. Juandissimo floated in the center of the room, waiting impatiently for her to draw close.

"This is... the study." Timantha murmured, her eyes resting uneasily on the large number of shadows cast by the firelight, "Why did you want me to come here?" She spared the fairy a faintly distrustful glance. "And why are you asking for **my** help? You don't even know who I am."

"Anyone with two brain cells to rub together can see through that disguise." Juandissimo dismissed, "It is for my Wanda that I ask." He pointed at the desk. "There is a locked drawer there with a nullifier protecting it. If you are truly immune to its power, open it and bring me the paper that is within it." Timantha frowned, folding her arms over her chest without thinking.

"That's it? You want me to fetch you some paper?" she demanded in frustration and growing anger, "You're risking Tootie's life over **paper**?"

"The sooner it is in my hands, the sooner you can rescue your little Goth girl." Juandissimo returned dryly, poofing up a mirror and busying himself with smoothing back hair that wasn't even out of place. Growling under her breath, Timantha stalked towards the desk and moved around it to reach the drawers. She ran her hands over them, tugging to see which one was locked, the silk of her opera gloves gliding over the surfaces.

Finally she pulled on one that wouldn't open and closed her eyes, pressing her fingertips against the front of the locked drawer. "What are you trying to do?" Anti-Cosmo whispered warily.

"I don't know yet. Let me think." Timantha mumbled back. She needed to get paper out, so she couldn't use water or fire. Oh, she could use earth! A little dirt never hurt anyone!

She chose to ignore the memory of a disk of Earth mana smashing Chester's nose in.

The wood under her fingers began lightening, spreading outward from where her fingertips rested. The smooth texture roughened, rippling out and following the lightening color, until the entire front panel of the drawer looked like it had been made of tightly compacted sand. With a grin, Timantha gave the sandy panel a little punch, watching it crumble to pieces and expose the interior of the drawer. A single sheet of paper lay within, a faint glow surrounding it. She blinked in surprise, then narrowed her eyes. Magic. That paper was magic, but it wasn't being affected by the nullifier.

She reached in and pulled it out, walking over to Juandissimo and holding it out. "Okay, here you..." she began, only to trail off as the fairy snatched the sheet from her fingers and poured over the words intently, eyes sweeping back and forth and teeth clenching. "Your welcome." Timantha muttered, hands on her hips as she waited for him to hurry up and tell her where Tootie and Romi were hidden.

After a moment, Juandissimo's face paled and he recoiled from the floating paper in horror. "N-No! This cannot be! My own fairy godson, conspiring with those most unsexy of creatures!" he exclaimed, throwing an arm over his eyes dramatically as he turned away, throwing out a hand as if to hold the thing at bay. "Oh most horrible of revelations! Everything! Everything, because of this... this... _pedazo de pergamino infernal_!"

"Oka~y. I only understood half of that." Timantha returned in genuine confusion, one eyebrow raised as Anti-Cosmo poofed out of his guise and grabbed the paper himself, "And I'm not just talking about the Spanish part."

"Unholy mother of Anti-Titania..." Anti-Cosmo breathed in shock, reading over the words himself, "That incident... all the motions made... I was right all along, but I never believed... no, I didn't **want** to believe... that this was the intention." Timantha remained even more confused and growing a bit annoyed by it.

"What? What's going on?" she demanded, "Anti-Cosmo, what are you talking about?" Her glare wavered, growing a bit uncertain when the anti-fairy turned his gaze to her, a deep sadness warring with intense fury in his bright green eyes. It wasn't normal to see that sort of thing in him.

"I wish I'd been there... to stop all this from ever happening." Anti-Cosmo whispered softly.

"That wish can't be granted." Timantha returned automatically, watching him with that same uncertain look as she reached out gingerly and took the paper from his hands. Whatever was on this thing, it made both fairy and anti-fairy act weird. So what was it? She turned it to herself, reading to find out.

It was a contract, like various others she'd seen during her life and after. Her brow furrowed lightly, noting the emblem in the corner of the letterhead looked vaguely familiar. On this date, blah blah blah, formalities, formalities... where was the good stuff... oh.

_'In the mutual interest of revenge against Timmy Tiberius Turner of Dimmsdale, California, the pixies of Pixies, Inc. pledge a joining of efforts with Remial Buxaplenty of Dimmsdale, California. The pixes shall provide the following; technology with which to enact the revenge plot, constructed with the schematic provided by Buxaplenty and placed in the location of his choosing; technology with which to ensure no other fairies will survive in Dimmsdale save for his own. In payment, Buxaplenty shall provide the following on completion of the aforementioned revenge...'_

_'The death of Timmy Tiberius Turner, with his body to be given up as the property of Pixies, Inc.'_

Timantha staggered backwards, heaving as one of her hands grasped the edge of the table, desperate for support while the world skewed sharply. She felt cold and numb, free hand lifting to cover her face, gripping her head as blood rushed through her veins, draining down and making her dizzy. She was dimly aware of tears running down her face, a low, keening cry of pain and anguish that was coming from her mouth.

Whatever else the contract talked about meant nothing to her now. She was murdered; as Timmy, she was murdered, and for what? As payment to the pixies for them helping Remy get revenge. For something as meaningless as that, her whole life, her future, her innocence, was completely destroyed. Not just her, but her _existence_. She was a violation of Nature because Remy wanted revenge. Cousin Danny broke the rules of Death to save her because Remy wanted revenge. Caleb was constantly being battered by nullifier fields because Remy wanted revenge. Cosmo and Wanda were banished from their friends and family forever _because Remy wanted revenge_.

Revenge for **what**? For having godparents **and** idiotically oblivious parents who loved him despite being negligent?

"Wh-why?" she whispered, the shaky and hollow voice foreign to her own ears, "Why did I have to die for **this**?" She felt like throwing up, like the world was playing some cruel joke and spun gleefully around her to jerk her off her feet. "I... I thought I meant more than just being some average boy no one understood." the brunette mumbled, trembling as tears ran down her face, "But I'm nothing... nothing at all... Just a thing to be traded off so some brat can get whatever he wants..."

"No!" Anti-Cosmo exclaimed, flying down to the girl and cupping her face in his hands, "Not nothing!" Anti-Wanda poofed from the other earring, joining her husband in giving Timantha desperate expressions. "You are very, **very** important to us all, dear Timothy." the leader of the anti-fairies whispered fiercely, "So important and so precious. Don't delude yourself with anything different!"

There was a click and Timantha jerked herself up and away from the antis, eyes wide and still glistening with tears, stunned as Remy casually locked the door behind himself, a grim smile on his face. The scepter with the stolen mana was still clutched in one hand. Juandissimo froze in place, eyes huge and round in his face as he glanced back and forth between his godchild and the brunette.

"Well, well, well. Never thought I'd see the day when my own fairy would dare turn against me." Remy purred darkly.

"Remy! _Mi amigo!_ Why can you not see what you've done?" the Latino fairy exclaimed, flitting towards him and clasping his hands together, shirt ripping to shreds in the process and a new one poofing into place. "You've doomed us all the moment you signed your name to that paper! There's no time left; _por favor_, bring down the Spires while you still can!"

Both Timantha and Anti-Cosmo cried out in alarm when Remy swept his hand over the glass orb and out towards the fairy godfather, a brilliant flare of glittering golden fire slamming into Juandissimo head on and throwing him into a shelf full of books. They came down in a cascade, burying the fairy in a pile of them.

"You wretched child! Have you lost all sense of morals?" Anti-Cosmo yelled furiously, "Meddling in the affairs of fairies and pixies and sacrificing the life of Timmy Turner; _do you know what you've done?_"

"I. Don't. _Care!_" Remy shrieked, lashing the scepter towards him and the girl, "Now that you've seen that contract, I **can't** let you get away! Why must you little bastards always get in the way of what I want? Now, take this! Luster Light!"

A flash of light erupted from the glass orb, blinding Anti-Cosmo and Timantha. The anti-fairy called her name, eyes shut as he waved his hands around in a panic. Anti-Wanda escaped the flash by conveniently wearing a soup can for a mask during the confrontation. She pulled it off in time to see Anti-Cosmo flail helplessly and dove for her husband, wailing in terror while Remy swept his hand over the scepter again, directing another burst of magic towards the helpless brunette.

"Fancy Fire!" A slew of small fireballs strikingly similar to _Bulla Scintillare_ flew towards her. Eyes screwed shut, Timantha threw out a hand to put up _Boltzman's Shield_, deflecting the attack as she shook her head. "That shield...! That's the same as what that Timothy mongrel uses! You're connected to that bunch of brats that's been giving me nothing but trouble for months!" Remy yelled in outrage.

"How **dare** you?" Timantha shot back, blinking away spots from her eyes, "You sold out Timmy Turner's life for some stupid revenge scheme! This isn't a **game**, Remy; don't you realize all the lives you've damaged with that choice?" When her vision returned, she dropped the shield and threw out her hand, tossing several spheres of her own _Bulla Scintillare_ out to try hitting the glass orb. "How could you be so cold-hearted? I knew you were a selfish, spoiled, self-serving rat, but to go so far as to help **kill** another kid just to get your way...?"

"Shut up! Don't say that! And don't talk like you know me!" the blonde yelled as he dodged, sweeping a wide arc of green flames across the room that caught her up and slammed her against another of the bookshelves. Timantha slid down in a daze, one hand pressed to her head as Anti-Wanda and Anti-Cosmo dove into the fray, whirling in an angry frenzy around the boy millionaire. They succeeded in holding him at bay for a few moments, until Remy swung the scepter again and set off a small explosion around himself. Timantha cried out in alarm as two little bodies went flying in opposite directions, wings flapping and flailing in a panic before hitting walls and shelves, falling to the floor in a pained stupor.

Before she could move to help them, Remy was right in front of her, the orb of stolen mana pressing against her neck and pinning her to the bookshelf. Her hands instinctively rose to cast another spell but froze when the blonde applied more pressure.

"I wouldn't try anything, if I were you." the blonde growled, and from this close Timantha could see a strangely desperate look in the boy's eyes. "I'm almost out of Spires, but I still have three in place. The nullifier program will be completed and I will **rule** this miserable little world and be the Heart of _everything_!" Remy hissed, then chuckled darkly. "Did that mongrel send his twin sister to 'distract' me from some plot?"

"Nngh! Where... are Tootie... and Romi?" Timantha demanded brokenly, words difficult to speak as the glass ball continued pressing onto her throat and against her jaw. Freak out over the contract thing later; if she didn't get that information somehow, they'd never be able to rescue them and Remy would be free to rebuild the other five Dark Spires, setting them all back to square one.

So many sacrifices in vain.

"If that was some attempt at seducing an answer out of me, I'm afraid you'll have to do better than that." Remy purred, smile growing wider, "Admittedly, you're quite lovely; perhaps even more so than that Trixie wench. This should be fun. You possess magical abilities just like Neogene, so what are the odds that you'd also be immune to fairy wishes?" His eyes fell on the choker around her neck, the tiny Heart of Dimmsdale insignia made of ruby embedded into the black material. "Ah, there's my answer."

"What are you... planning now?" Timantha growled, focusing on the glass still jammed against her skin. If she couldn't touch it with her hands, could she use that bit of contact to convert the glass to something else? She uttered a startled yelp when the choker was ripped from her neck, eyes wide and face turning red. She shot a glare at Remy's smug face. "If you try ripping anything **else** off of me, I'm going to make you _regret_ ever taking your first breath of air!" she snarled and winced as the orb jammed harder against her jaw.

"My benefactors..." the boy began.

"Pixies." Timantha interrupted with a growl, "I know about them now, and so does Caleb, so you can't steal anymore Archives material." Remy huffed, momentarily affronted before returning to his earlier smirk of anticipated victory.

"Fine, then. The pixies are going to that silly little party in the park to collect their payment. Once that's done, I'm going to have them do a little bit of magic on you." he purred, smiling wider at Timantha's alarmed expression, "After all, I'm going to rule the world as its Heart and King, so it's only right that I should have a queen, yes?"

**"No!"** Timantha fumed, unleashing her focus on the orb. The glass rippled against her skin, turning even more iridescent and wobbling as the effect spread down over it. Remy pulled it back in shock, trying to halt the change, but enough was converted over to a soap bubble. Timantha lashed her hand against it just before it was fully out of reach.

The stolen mana was exposed to the air, rushing out in a fountain that had even the shadows swirling around them, flooding the room with shimmering light and darkness.

And then it exploded.

* * *

~Halloween Blast Party at the Park

Michael sat on a barrel of punch backstage, looking fairly unimpressed by everything going on, a lollipop stuck in his mouth for the sake of appearances. Wanda and Cosmo floated near him, looking a little worried as time continued passing and the wish still hadn't expired.

Outside, the crowd of party-goers were still screaming and cheering wildly, even as Chip Skylark bounced backstage with the largest smile on his face that the android had ever seen. "That was the best concert I've had in years!" he exclaimed happily, "It's so great; not a single fan was disappointed!"

"That's awesome, Chip." Michael returned cheerfully, taking the candy out to speak, "And that song you performed was beautiful; sad, but touching and hopeful." Chip grinned, the expression fond as he gave the android a little punch in the shoulder.

"I wrote it thinking of you, little man." he remarked softly, "Of how we should be living after you died, in honor of you and not enslaved by the memory of you." Michael blinked, then pulled on the best sheepish expression he had, hoping he looked appropriately bashful.

"Thank you." the brunet returned and hopped off the barrel, the two fairies poofing themselves into a pair of glowing party rings that dangled around his neck, "Well, I guess it's time for me to address the crowd, huh?"

"You used to hate being on stage, talking to a crowd of people who were going to be silently judging you." Chip remarked absently, still grinning. Then he shrugged, "Guess four years of after-life training can change a lot of stuff!" With that, he danced away, searching out the nearest buffet for some snacks and punch. Michael rolled his eyes and headed out to the stage to make his speech.

The party-goers were still cheering as the brunet ran across the stage, waving a hand at them and making for the microphone stand. Once there, Michael flicked the device off and wirelessly connected directly to the speaker system; just a precaution against any accidental feedback that might pop up if the microphone was too close to his electronics. He smiled out at the crowds, waving again.

"Thank you, everyone, for coming to the Halloween Blast Party in the Park! Are we all having fun?" he exclaimed, smiling wider at the yells and whoops erupting before him, "Awesome! Isn't it amazing what can happen if you just keep on believing in the one true Heart of Dimmsdale? Chip Skylark returned from hiding, just for you guys! To remind you all, believe in Timmy's hopes for this city!"

Listening to the people erupting in wild applause and cheering reminded Michael of an obsessed cult in a frenzy of crazed euphoria centering around their 'deity'. Behind the mask of smiling, he worried if playing up the city's worship of the young immortal just to maintain control over the insignia was really going to be worth it in the end. He disconnected himself from the speaker system and stepped aside, watching as Vicky, Trixie, Elmer and Sanjay came out to join him, carrying boxes of treats and party favors. The five of them then began tossing them to the crowd, baggies of candy, glowing party rings and sticks, party poppers and noisemakers, everything one could ask for in a huge outdoor party.

"Why is it taking so long for the other team to rescue Tootie and Romi?" Trixie asked him under her breath as she tossed a monster mask towards an eager little boy.

"I'm sure things will be fine." Michael replied confidently as several more teens ran onto the stage to join them. The group straightened, shock registering on their faces while A.J., Chester and Mark all panted from the exertion of running. Doubled over and gasping for air, the boys all looked like they'd just run a marathon.

"What are you doing here?" Vicky demanded furiously, "You twerps were supposed to be rescuing my sister! Where the hell is she?"

"Was a set-up!" Chester gasped out, lifting his head to look over the group tiredly, "Ran for the limos, made them drive here, fast as they could."

"She wasn't in the room!" A.J. added helplessly, "Romi's wand was being stored there, but neither of them were there!"

Michael hurried towards them, gripping each boy by the shoulders and running a quick scan of their vitals for a health check. Other than stress and exhaustion, they seemed all right. However, he noticed that the fourth member of the rescue team wasn't with them. "Chester, where's Timantha?" he asked in concern, "Why isn't she with you? Why didn't she come back too?"

"Remy's fairy said he would tell her where they were hidden, but one of the conditions for telling was the three of us leaving her behind!" A.J. cried, clutching at his head as his eyes went wide with renewed panic, "She's all alone in Remy's mansion and there's no telling what's gonna happen now!"

"Okay, first, we need to get off the stage before we panic these people." Michael ordered quickly and turned to the crowd now looking less festive and more concerned, "Ladies and gentlemen! We have some minor party difficulties we need to tend to, so for your continued enjoyment...!"

The sounds of technical noise, pings of some sort, suddenly cut him off, little bursts of pixelated data erupting in the air over the crowd revealing several fairy-like creatures in drab gray business suits and sunglasses. As one, they lifted their cell phones and a strange machine pinged into existence among them.

"What the-?" Michael muttered in confusion as the crowd began oohing and ahhing at the arrivals. He hadn't been given any information on those things!

"Pixies! What are they doing here?" Apollo exclaimed, poofing free of Trixie and looking up at the creatures furiously.

"Target sighted. Collecting payment now." one of the pixies droned, reaching out to press a button on the machine. A slew of cables shot out and headed straight for the stage, wrapping themselves around Michael and pinning his arms and legs together.

"Hey!" the android cried in alarm, yanked off the stage and into the air as the crowd erupted into yells and cheers. Wanda and Cosmo poofed free of him, weapon wands in hand as they rushed forward to sever the cables and attack the pixies, who merely scattered to avoid confrontation.

"They've captured Timothy!" Sanjay exclaimed, hands flying up to his cheeks.

"Quick! Everyone, armor up!" Chester declared, brushing fingers over the band on his wrist. The rest of the group followed suit, flashes of light passing over them as the magi-tech armor wrapped over their clothes and displayed the brilliant red design of the Heart of Dimmsdale insignia to the crowd, encouraging another eruption of cheers from the party-goers. "They think this is some kinda show?" the blonde questioned his friends in confusion.

"Let them think that!" Vicky growled, pulling out a laser pistol from her side and aiming for cables drawing the brunet closer to the machine, "Just get the twerp freed!"

"Apollo! Go help Cosmo and Wanda fight the pixies!" Trixie called out as she and the rest of the Others grabbed their own lasers and started firing away.

Michael winced as blaster fire streaked all around him, slicing away at the reinforced cables holding him captive and pulling him in. This wasn't part of the plan! The party in the park was supposed to be morale-boosting, a way of keeping attention on himself and the team here, so Timantha and her team could rescue the missing members of Team Turner. What were these creatures doing here, attacking the party?

No, they weren't attacking. Michael glanced around at the fairies firing off magic and swinging blades around while the pixies just dodged and avoided, acting on the defensive. Meanwhile he was pulled ever closer to the machine floating in the air.

"Retrieval. This is a retrieval mission." he realized, "They came here to kidnap Timothy Neogene." And instead, they were going to run off with an android, one of Caleb's creations. Magitechnology in the hands of the enemy...

Michael's head snapped around to face the machine, blue eyes glowing brilliantly. "Preservation of magitechnology protocols, activated. Initiate phase one." he recited flatly and flexed his limbs, pouring every ounce of strength into them. The cables stretched around him and the pixies guarding the machine looked to him with eyebrows raised, the closest they could get to looking shocked or startled. One by one, the cables began snapping apart and the pixies went to poking at buttons on the machine, trying to regain control.

More and more cables snapped free, thanks to the aid of the laser fire cutting away at them. Finally, the last of them broke away and Michael dropped from the air for only a split-second, jets of frost-blue mana shooting from metal attachments that unfolded from his back. Suspended on the makeshift wings, the android ignored the cries of delight from the crowd and shock from Team Turner, turned and flew to the top of the stage, touching down on the sturdy metal structure. He folded his wings away as he raised a hand towards the machine now firing another set of cables towards him.

"Initiating phase two." Michael intoned, a circle of light tracing out runes at his feet, _"O sacred will, strike down those who would be mine enemy!"_ A large blade of Light mana formed over the pixies and their machine, glittering and shining in the night. The brunet swept his arm out to the device, palm open and facing them. _"Divine Saber!"_

The pixies scattered as the blade slammed down into the machine, the cables that had been fired hitting Michael dead on at the same moment. It exploded in midair, debris raining down and pinging away as the crowd roared with approval at the 'show' they witnessed. The android fell off the stage, grabbing onto the structure at the last minute and hanging on.

"Initiating phase three." he recited and lifted his arm, flipping open the flesh-toned panel that covered his forearm. A second, glowing blue panel was revealed that erupted into a blinding flash of light. By the time the people had recovered from it, the pixies, the fairies and Michael were gone.

"Uh... what the hell just happened?" Chester asked dumbly, blinking away the last of the spots before his eyes.

"I dunno, but one thing's for sure." A.J. muttered, rubbing at one eye before looking up at the rest of the still armored Team Turner, grim expression on his face, "That **wasn't** Timmy."

* * *

~Archives of the Twin Blades, New York City

Caleb looked up from his phone call as a group of Hero duplicates rushed down the hall with a stretcher. He only had a glimpse of it as they dashed past him to the repair bay, but that was all he needed to identify the offlined Michael model laying there. The redhead clicked his tongue in irritation, going back to his call as he continued towards the infirmary.

"Sorry, Lloyd, just spotted one of my copies get rushed to repairs. Bad timing, too; that one was taking Timothy's place in a rescue plan of his." Caleb sighed and gave a half-shrug, "Well, I suppose it'll be all right. He's just going to have to talk really fast to get out of this one. ...So, how much longer before you arrive?" He listened to the response and smiled brightly, pleased with what he heard. "And you've got the Eternal Sword with you? Wonderful! I'll have the Pin ready to be repaired when you get here..."

He paused just outside the infirmary doors, eyebrow raised at the words spoken from the other end of the call. "I'm sorry, what?" Caleb questioned a little sharply, "No, I am **not** forgiving anyone anytime soon. Oh, he'll live with it; my job's just to take care **of** him, I didn't see anything about caring **about** him." He glared at the wall as the call went on, teeth grinding together lightly. Finally he shut his eyes in annoyance and shook his head. "Gah! Do. Not. Care! Lloyd, butt out of it already! It's my business and I'll do as I damn well please to protect myself first." he shot into the phone, "Fat load of good I'll do this planet if I'm constantly in a corner, bawling my eyes out over some kid."

Caleb hung up before Lloyd could say anything more and shoved the phone into his pocket. He took a deep breath, flinching after a moment, then pushed the door open to step inside, greeting Sam and Jazz Fenton softly before walking over to look through the glass wall separating the waiting room from the room where Danny Phantom remained in a healing coma. The two girls glanced at one another before standing up and joining him.

"He's been doing okay, so far." Sam began quietly, uncertainly, "Mint and Raine take shifts in changing out the ecto crystals and IV drips."

"I know." Caleb murmured tonelessly. The girls glanced at one another helplessly.

"You know, studies say that people in comas are still somewhat aware of the world around them," Jazz added in a too bright voice, trying to make it sound like an offhand subject, "and can even be encouraged to heal at an accelerated rate if they hear the voices of close family and..."

"Don't start." Caleb growled softly, "My interests in the Hero of Amity Park rests solely in ensuring he lives, is able to fulfill his duties, and leaves a solid legacy behind for future generations." He reached out to touch the glass, fingertips lightly pressing against it as he gazed beyond it at the sleeping half-ghost. "Anything else... is meaningless." he finished in a whisper. Sam sighed harshly, opening her mouth to speak again, but the angelic android had already spun on his heel, pulling away from the glass.

"I'll have Jade bring you some fresh meals while you're here. Since Michael's here, I'll need to analyze his data and find out what exactly happened to him." Caleb remarked flippantly, striding for the door as though he hadn't a care in the world, "There's still a lot of work for me to do, and that's not even taking into account the work I have to do as CEO of the Hounder Organization! So, I might be a bit too busy to visit again, sorry!"

"Sure doesn't sound **that** sorry." Sam growled once he left the infirmary, arms held stiff at her sides and hands clenched into fists. Jazz just sighed and pat her shoulder before going back to sit at the waiting room table and resume reading her books. "He acts like he cares about Danny, but that's all it is; an act!"

"It's still a good act, and we should be thankful we're getting that far with him." Jazz remarked, flipping through the pages of her book, "We both know that we can't change his mind; only Danny has that ability and only once he figures out how to get past perfect neutrality again."

"You think Timmy and his friends can keep it together in Dimmsdale until we can go in and help again?" the Goth asked, joining her at the table and picking up her own poetry book.

"Let's hope so. Or Caleb being stubborn as a mule is going to be the least of our concerns." the older Fenton returned.


	19. Chapter 19

Previously on Burning Black:

When we last left the gang, the boys on Timantha's rescue team were sent away from the manor as part of a deal with Juandissimo to find the location of Tootie and Romi. What they discovered was the contract between Remy and The Pixies that provides the motive for Timmy's murder 4 years earlier. But before Juandissimo could reveal the hostages' location, Remy showed up and attacked! Where could Tootie and Romi be and can they be rescued Halloween night?

* * *

19

~Buxaplenty Manor

Timantha managed to get back to her feet, bracing one hand against the bookshelf and clutching at her head with the other. The air smelled heavily of mana, fading quickly as it dispersed into the flow surrounding the world. Her mind spun and she felt a bit dizzy, uncertain as to what exactly had happened. Was freeing her mana supposed to cause an explosion?

She could hear, faintly, screams of panic from outside the study. The party-goers were probably panicking from the blast, scattering everywhere in their usual chaotic mobs. Well, at least that might change people's minds about Remy being the new Heart of Dimmsdale.

Ah, yes, Remy. What happened to **him**? Timantha shook her head to clear the haze a bit more and looked around herself. Her dress was torn and burnt, wrecked beyond any hope of repair. She winced, thinking of the amount of money Caleb had spent on it, then breathed a sigh of relief that he didn't really care about losses like that. The study was ruined, furniture blasted apart, books fallen from the shelves and burning or smoldering, and the accursed contract still floating in place, perfectly intact. The books burying Juandissimo had been blown clear, revealing the Latino fairy lying on the floor, unconscious.

"Anti-Cosmo? Anti-Wanda? Are you guys okay?" Timantha called out softly, scanning the room as she stepped towards the contract. She should take it with her; it was evidence, decisive proof that Remy had gone into an agreement to have her murdered. Much as it made her sick to think of the writing on the paper, the brunette needed to get it as part of the collection. She'd take it and her anti-fairies and get the hell out of here. She reached out to grab the paper...

And froze when she realized she still didn't know where Tootie and Romi were being held.

_"Damn it all!"_ Timantha yelled, clutching at her head and sorely tempted to yank her own hair out from stress, "Can this night get **any** more _frustrating_?"

"Why, yes. It **can**." Remy purred from behind her back. The brunette managed a sharp inhalation before a second explosion, this one of pure pain, bloomed in her mind. She spun and fell backwards onto the floor, hands rising instinctively to cradle her injured head. Through the haze of agony and spinning double vision, Timantha could make out the figure of the boy billionaire standing over her with a fireplace poker in his grip, white tuxedo just as badly shredded as her dress. The insignia of the Aces High armor peeked through the tattered clothes.

"My shield activated when you set off that explosion. How _lucky_ for me." Remy managed to growl between exhausted little pants for air, "I took the liberty of throwing those miserable anti-fairies out the window." He gripped the poker in both hands, pointing it in her direction. "Now, you're going to be a good little princess, and do exactly what I say. Remember, I still have the Goth girl and her fairy in my custody." he threatened harshly, "You're going to tell me everything about your mongrel brother and his connections, or they will never see daylight again."

Timantha murmured a healing spell under her breath, grimacing as the pain finally ebbed away. She pulled her hands away, pushing herself up and glancing towards the window, the glass blown away and the curtains torn to pieces. Not good. The antis were gone, Juandissimo was out cold without having given her any information, the pixies were on their way to grab Michael, and Remy was now holding **her** hostage in some lame attempt to make her his future queen.

Ew. So very gross.

"Start talking!" Remy barked at her and the brunette turned her glare on him. Fairies recovered fairly quickly, Timantha knew that much; she just needed to buy time for Juandissimo to wake up and give her Tootie's location. She smirked grimly. Well, then. Time to go shopping.

_"Ofer Hoetu."_ she commanded, focusing on the poker in Remy's hands. The metal turned red-hot, forcing the boy to drop it with a cry of pain and alarm. Timantha flipped up from the floor and onto her feet, staggering a little at the sudden lightness of her own body. _'Wh-what's this? I feel... weird...'_ she thought to herself in concern, lifting a hand to stare at it. Everything tingled, like her whole body was waking up from being numbed. Had that explosion given her back the stolen mana after all?

Remy yelled angrily, pulling flash bombs from his belt and hurling them down, eyes squeezing shut. Timantha hurriedly swept a hand over her own face, conjuring a pair of sunglasses to block the light as she darted aside to scoop up the unconscious fairy. Even with his eyes shut, the boy billionaire kept throwing things around the room in a frenzy of rage, yelling intelligibly at the top of his lungs.

Grenades, flash bombs, spiked spheres, gas pellets, everything small and in his reach was flung all over the place in a frantic effort to hit the brunette. Timantha leaped and hopped to dodge the chaotic attacks, throwing up shields to push away most of the projectiles and contain the explosions. She couldn't just shove them out the window; what if they fell on an escaping party-goer? And just standing still behind _Boltzman's Shield_ might mean one of those projectiles would bounce back at Remy and cause something she'd regret later.

As furious and wounded as she was to know that Remy had willingly helped in her murder, she was still a Hero first and Heroes didn't take revenge like that... no matter how tempting it was.

Juandissimo eventually stirred from his place in the crook of her arm, blinking blearily up at her in confusion. "Wanda?" he questioned in a slurred voice, trying and failing to focus his wandering eyes on her face.

"I'm Timantha, Juandissimo; how can you mistake **me** for **her**?" the brunette shot back irritably, sweeping her free hand back and forth rapidly, desperate to keep pace with the rapid throwing of things by the infuriated blonde while moving. The fairy groaned, rubbing at his head. "Remy smacked you into the bookshelf." Timantha told him before he could ask any questions, "The books fell on you but they protected you from the explosion that messed up this room. Where are Tootie and Romi?"

"I didn't tell you already?" Juandissimo returned woozily, eyes spinning in his head comically.

"No, you didn't! Now hurry up and tell me!" Timantha snapped, "This whole night's going to pieces and I **need** to get out of here and rescue them!" She jumped away from Remy's current targeting zone and pressed her back against the wall, breathing heavily. That numb feeling was fading, but she didn't trust herself to last much longer in a fight within a cramped space, especially with innocent people outside.

"They..." Juandissimo began uncertainly, then shook his head fiercely before holding it in both hands, his eyes finally regaining focus as he blinked at the sight of Remy raging in the ruined study. "Remy? _Amigo?_ He was the one who attacked me?" he asked in shock. Timantha tossed him into the air, letting the fairy catch himself in mid-air, wings beating rapidly.

"Juandissimo! Tell me **now**!" she yelled at him in a mix of desperation and fury. He spun in place to stare at her just as Remy did the same, no longer blinded by the flashes of light.

"You are **my** fairy and I wish...!" the blonde began to shriek out.

"Spire Two! They're being held at the top of Dark Spire Two!" Juandissimo blurted out hurriedly, eyes darting back at his godchild in alarm.

"...you wouldn't say... _**argh**_!"

Timantha's blood ran cold at hearing those words. Spire Two? Tootie and Romi were being held captive in a Dark Spire? A magic-user and a fairy trapped in one of the nullifier sources, one of the most powerful ones in the city.

They could already be dead.

"No." she whispered in horror, one hand rising to her mouth. That **can't** be how this ends tonight! She would have to rescue them immediately. Desperate to do just that, Timantha bolted for the open window. Remy dove for her, snarling in anger.

"You're not going anywhere!" he yelled, and slammed face-first into a hastily summoned shield. Timantha paused at the window to shoot him a furious glare.

"I'm never going to forgive you for what you did to Timmy Turner!" she declared, "But I'm not going to get revenge for his death. No, you'll get what you deserve one day, but right now I have to rescue Tootie and her fairy. There's no way I'm letting them die because of you, too!" With that, she leaped out the window, ribbons of green whirling around her and carrying her on the wind as if she were as light as a feather.

Remy turned on Juandissimo in her place, teeth grinding together furiously. "What were you _thinking_?" he hissed, "You are **my** fairy; how **dare** you betray me like this?" Juandissimo sighed, shaking his head sadly.

"Aah, _lo siento_, my poor little godchild." the Latino fairy returned, "But it is **you** who had betrayed me first. I am trying to do what is best for my godchild so that he can be happy again." He looked determined and unrepentant for his actions, "If it means working against you somehow, then so be it. I will save you from yourself!"

Remy just gave a high-pitched, wordless scream of frustration before turning to glare out the broken window at Dimmsdale's skyline. "So, the battle of Spire Two is tonight, huh?" he growled, "Fine by me. Without that mongrel leading the team, you're going to fail anyway!"

* * *

Archives of the Twin Blades~

Caleb sighed in faint exasperation, fingertips pressing lightly against his forehead as Yuan reported on the data extracted from the downed Michael copy still resting on the examination table nearby.

"...and that seems to be the end of it." the blue-haired half-elf finished, tossing the clipboard aside and giving Caleb a lofty look, "Whether you like it or not, his cover was blown because of the anti-theft system you had integrated into us all. What are you to do about it?"

"It's probably a good thing I can't consume anything, otherwise I would have been a raging drunk _looong_ ago." the redhead replied with a soft groan, "I thought this would be Timmy's problem, not mine!" Yuan simply lifted an eyebrow at him and Caleb waved him off. "Fine, I'll think of something for him later..."

The sound of a phone going off interrupted him and Caleb blinked as he looked towards the source of the sound. "What in Martel's name is that?" he questioned aloud. Yuan tilted his head, listening to the repeating melody.

"My Shiny Teeth and Me, sung by Chip Skylark III. I believe this is a cover version done by Adam Lambert?" the half-elf duplicate replied thoughtfully.

"That was rhetorical... never mind." Caleb muttered, going over to the offline android on the table and pulling out the cell phone from his pocket, "This is the phone registered to Timothy Neogene." Checking the caller ID only showed him an unlisted number; he winced and sighed again. "And already there's a phone call from _someone_ at the party who's not using the cell phones I _paid_ for. Don't I even get enough time to come up with cover stories for people anymore?"

"No, sir." Yuan remarked, hastily closing his mouth at the glare the redhead gave him.

"Ugh, the things I do to help my..." Caleb muttered and flinched, "little Heroes..." He shook his head, then flipped open the phone and brought it to his ear.

* * *

Dimmsdale Park~

Chester breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the call connect. He, Mark and A.J. all stood backstage, clustered around a payphone, while the rest of the party team went out to carry on as if the attack had all been part of the show, with Chip doing an encore of his songs for an impromptu costume dance contest. There was a lot of confusion floating around after the disappearance of the fairies, the pixies, and the now-obviously fake Timmy.

"Timmy! Where the heck are you?! There was some robot copy of you or whatever that was taking your place here at the park!" Chester barked out as soon as the phone picked up, "Timantha's in trouble and the rest of us was gonna ask you to think up a plan to help her and you're not even really at the park!"

_"Sorry! But on a night like this, when I knew you guys would be going after Remy, I just couldn't sleep right!"_ Timmy's voice exclaimed, _"I mean, yeah, Timantha's got some decent power to her, but she doesn't have the experience to fight against that jerk. So I asked Caleb to send over a copy of me real quick and decided to bail to help her out. Why aren't you guys using your phones? I almost ignored you calling!"_

"You could have said something sooner." A.J. grumbled under his breath, arms folded over his chest as he sulked.

"Mark busted all our phones, ramming us into that nullifier room like some freaky-talking bulldozer! Now hurry up and get there faster!" Chester told the brunet fiercely, "She's all alone with Remy's weird-talking fairy and for all we know it's some kinda trap!"

_"Yeah, okay, I'm on it! Sheesh!"_ Timmy griped, _"I gotta go, something's come up."_ And the phone clicked off at that point, leaving the other boys just staring at the one in Chester's hand.

"Righ-TEOUS!" Mark suddenly blurted out with a huge smile, pumping both fists into the air, "Earth's Greatest Warrior will deal with this! Now bring on the sacks of brussel sprouts!"

"Are all kids from Europe this weird?" Chester asked A.J. in sotto. The other boy merely shrugged, completely confused.

* * *

Archives of the Twin Blades~

"Please tell me I don't have to impersonate a woman next." Caleb grumbled as he hung up Timmy's phone and pulled out his own, which had begun ringing softly partway through his conversation with the brunet's friends. Sliding the touchpad to pick up the call, he answered with his usual falsely cheerful tone, "Archives of the Twin Blades, New York City Branch. This is Caleb Altessa speaking; how may I help you?"

_"Caleb! It's Timantha! I learned where Tootie and Romi are!"_ a girl's voice exclaimed breathlessly, the sounds of steps running over pavement bleeding through the speaker as well.

"I thought you said she was in Buxaplenty Manor." the android remarked suspiciously, "If the situation's changed, you should have called me first!"

_"I'm calling you **now**, aren't I? They're in Spire Two! I'm already heading there with Anti-Cosmo and Anti-Wanda!"_ Timantha shot back, _"I need you to call Michael and tell him to wish Cosmo and Wanda back to me!"_

"That's going to be difficult to do. The pixies tried to abduct Michael and it set off his anti-theft system. He's currently here in New York, offline." Caleb sighed, rubbing his forehead, "And your fairies just vanished during the commotion... wait. Did you say they're in a Dark Spire?"

_"Yeah! That's why I'm running over there as fast as I... Michael's down? But he's got my phone!"_

"I know; you got called on it from Chester so I had to answer in your voice. They think Timmy Turner is running towards Buxaplenty Manor."

_"Gah! How is this night falling apart **this** fast?!"_

"Your guess is as good as mine." Caleb replied with a roll of his eyes, reaching out to grab the Wonder Fork from where it rested against the wall of the repair bay, "Where is Spire Two located anyway?"

_"This one is in the High-Commercial District, the central hub for Dimmsdale's __top-class shops and restaurants for the wealthy..."_

"Thanks. Meet you there. You'll need someone with resurrections spells, just in case." the android returned and hung up before any response could be made. Yuan stared at him in surprise.

"I thought you wouldn't be returning to Dimmsdale until Danny Phantom awoke from his coma!" he remarked, astonished by the change in plans.

"Danny's safe here, but where Timothy is going is very dangerous and he could use the backup." Caleb returned, turning the fork over in his hands, "You know how I operate, Yuan. Pieces are being moved on the board, the game is changing, and I'm not always in control. There's a greater prize at stake, and the true chessmaster wants all contingencies in place before making the next move." The blue-haired half-elf lifted his hand to his mouth thoughtfully, considering the words.

"I see. This is to protect the investment made into one of those contingencies, isn't it?" Yuan mused aloud, "Codename: Sparrow, I believe...?" Caleb only turned and lifted a finger to his mouth, worried expression on his face. "Sorry. Just be careful out there, all right?" the half-elf sighed just as the redhead vanished in a burst of smoke, "He just doesn't listen. Souls complicate things."

* * *

En route to Spire Two~

"Argh! He hung up on me!" Timantha growled, glaring at her phone as she ran, "Again! That's the third time he's cut me off; whatever happened to that teacher-student thing where he practically hovered over me twenty-four/seven?" She tripped, a heel breaking off of one of her shoes, and would have landed on her face if not for Anti-Cosmo and Anti-Wanda flicking their wands to catch her with their magic, setting her back on her feet. "Did I step on a crack or something?!" she yelled, throwing up her hands, "Everything's out to get me tonight!"

"No, dear; if you'd done that, I would have flittered off to make your mother's back a nightmare of chiropractic therapy." Anti-Cosmo returned flatly before pointing at her shoes, "It's the fact that you're running around in high heels that have no business being treated like track-and-field wear."

"Tha's why I run on mah hands!" Anti-Wanda agreed with a smile, showing off her palms covered in overgrown blisters that apparently didn't bother her one bit. Timantha gagged at the sight before sighing in exasperation.

"Look, guys. I'm glad you two were all right after being tossed out by Remy..." she began.

"All that lovely panic and chaos fixed us up in a jiffy, yes." Anti-Cosmo tittered cheerfully, sharp grin growing broad as he recalled the amount of negative energy that seemed to have just rolled off the party-goers and rejuvenated the anti-fairies while they sat dizzily on the garden hedges.

"...but can't you make a tiny exception for me and just poof me to the Dark Spire?!" Timantha finished, yelling her words at the top of her lungs. The anti-fairy opened his mouth to answer, just as another voice cut in.

"Anti-fairies don't grant wishes. Fairy godparents do." Wanda remarked sternly. Timantha lit up, spinning around and gazing up at the pink-haired fairy hovering there with her wand in hand. A green puff of smoke cleared to reveal Cosmo floating by his anti-self, staring blankly at the brunette. He blinked once, then turned to give him a flat, faintly hostile glare.

"You were supposed to be protecting her." he growled softly.

"**I** got brains. **You** got power." Anti-Cosmo growled back, "Or at least that's the way it's supposed to go."

Oblivious to the duel of glares behind her, Timantha happily reached out to grasp Wanda's hands with her fingertips. "Wanda, Cosmo! I'm so glad you're here!" she exclaimed, "What happened at the party in the park? I called Caleb and he said Michael went down and-!"

"Well, he wrecked your cover pretty badly, Sport." Wanda returned with a nervous chuckle before giving her a concerned once-over with her eyes, "Our Timmy Sense went off just as he destroyed that capture machine thing, so we tried to get to you to make sure you were safe." One tiny hand reached out to curve against the brunette's cheek. "But we couldn't get through the barrier around the room you were in. The place looked demolished! What happened in there?!"

Timantha blinked, puzzled before her eyes widened in realization. "Oh! There was a nullifier in that room! That's what kept you out!" she answered brightly, "It was built into a really big wooden desk...!"

"I saw a desk like that. It was hanging off a tree in the lawn." Wanda muttered, "No, the barrier wasn't a nullifier; I'd have known if it was. It was something else; very strong and very dark." She glanced aside at the anti-fairies almost distrustfully. "And it stayed around you for the past ten blocks. Cosmo and I couldn't get near you until just a few minutes ago when it finally dropped away."

Timantha frowned at the insinuation, stepping back from her fairy godmother. "That's not the anti-fairies' fault. It must have been something else, like a side effect of my stolen mana exploding all at once in Remy's study." she shot back and waved her hand dismissively, "Anyway, you said it's gone now, and the antis are still here, so obviously they're not connected." She let her expression soften once she saw Wanda look a bit stung. "Look, I know you were worried about me, and I'm sorry for worrying you, but we can't be fighting each other when we're all agreed that we should fight together against the Dark Spires." the brunette explained quickly, "And we need to hurry to Spire Two! Tootie and Romi are being held there!" The fairies gasped in unison, horrified by the very thought. "Yes! So can we _**please**_ get there sometime before the world ends?!" Timantha declared, throwing up her arms again in exasperation.

"Funny, I was about to ask the same thing." Caleb remarked as he touched down nearby, red wings shutting off and folding away, "I teleported to the Ivory Tower and flew towards this district, then let my mana sensors direct me straight to you." He blinked a few times, looking puzzled. "Why is your head covered in dried blood?" the android asked tactlessly.

"Eh?" Timantha blinked back dumbly before touching a hand to her cheek, the same one Wanda had held out of concern just moments ago, "Was I running around all this time with blood on my face?" She shot a glare at Anti-Cosmo, who whistled a jaunty tune shamelessly. "Why didn't you tell me I was covered in my own blood?!" she snapped, flushing furiously with embarrassment.

"It's Halloween, dear Timantha, and you blew a corner of Buxaplenty Manor all over his garden party." the anti-fairy returned brightly, "I don't think anyone was in a position to _care_ what was on your face, and with the number of costumed children running amok with fake blood oozing out of every place they can think of, real blood seemed _avant-garde_ enough to work."

Timantha turned redder, teeth clenching together as she rallied herself for the mother of all tantrums when Caleb's voice made her take abrupt pause. "Is that the dress I bought you?" he asked in that flat, 'I'm-going-to-make-you-regret-knowing-my-name' tone that made every Hero who heard it drop what they were doing and run. She winced, shoulders hunching up defensively as she turned to look back at him with a pained smile on her bloodied face.

"Eh heheheheh..." she chuckled nervously, "Um... well..."

"The dress I had Gucci _custom-make_ specifically for **your** battle needs?"

"Ah, I..."

"The dress I agreed to import the _finest_ Indian silver-threaded silk for on short notice so that it would be ready under those requirements for **this** very night?"

"...oh, so that's why it does that shimmer thing..."

"The dress that is now just a very pretty set of stitched together rags?"

"Hm."

There was silence as the fairies and anti-fairies glanced at one another nervously before looking back at the two facing off. Timantha fiddled with one of the burnt holes in the fabric while Caleb just continued giving her that unchanged stern glare.

"That dress cost ten thousand dollars." he finally stated. Timantha winced.

"I know."

"Your **dress** cost ten thousand dollars." Caleb repeated a bit more firmly, glare sharpening.

"Yeah..."

"Ten. **Thousand.** Dollars."

Silence again. It was getting both tense and kind of awkward for the young immortal. She fiddled with one of the larger tears in the fabric before daring a look up at the android. "Sorry?" Timantha ventured meekly, flinching when Caleb's eyes narrowed at her, "It did really good though..."

Another minute of glaring and Caleb sighed, rubbing his head. "At least it did the job it was supposed to." he relented, "In the end, that's what matters most. Although, if I had known you were going to be beaten over the head, I probably would have invested in a mythril-lined hat or something." He shrugged, giving Timantha a small smile, "But then what do I know about fashion? I've been wearing the same outfit for the past few billion years; torn up Gucci dresses might be the next 'in' thing."

The brunette broke into laughter, relieved that he wasn't actually mad at her over the ruined dress. She'd been worried for a minute there, but of **course** he wouldn't be that upset about it; after all, when did Caleb ever care about how much he spent on anything?

"I'm just glad you're all right." the redhead told her, resting a hand on her head, "Bloody face and ruined clothes aside, of course. Did you get your stolen mana back?" Timantha sighed, looking to her hand as she opened and closed it experimentally.

"I don't think I did, but it definitely isn't in Remy's hands anymore." she returned, "It kind of exploded on us after I broke the glass ball holding it." She shook her head, "Look, I'll explain everything after we rescue Tootie and Romi! We **have** to get to Spire Two **now**!"

"Just us? We're not enough to take on a Dark Spire without any preparation!" Anti-Cosmo exclaimed in shock, "You've always attacked with a full team, all your friends and supporters!" Timantha turned a pleading gaze on him, eyes wide and teary.

"It'll take too long and Remy already knows I'm going after them! If we back out to plan a new rescue, he'll have the time to move them and all of this will have been for nothing!" she cried, then yelped as Caleb patted her shoulder to regain her attention.

"Then we're just going to have to be enough for tonight." he agreed grimly, "Martel help us if we waste the time and efforts put into a Halloween rescue and we let the villain win on a technicality." Timantha nodded and turned to her fairies.

"Cosmo, Wanda! I wish I had the Blue Crystal Rod with me!" she declared, holding up her hands as the couple lifted their wands, stars shining bright. A pink poof of magic smoke cleared above her as the replicated staff appeared and dropped into her waiting hands. "All right! Now I wish we were all as close to Spire Two as possible without dropping into the nullifier field!" she finished. Another wave of the wands and the tiny rescue group poofed away in a blast of pink smoke.

* * *

Dark Spire Two, Interior~

_"Strike with heaven's wrath! Thunder Arrow!"_ Tootie yelled and the spell blasted open the door to her cell. "Okay, I've had, like, a week to think this over and you know what?" the young Goth growled to herself as she raced out with her fairy clinging to her shoulders, tossing away the remains of her aluminum foil wand, "Screw Timmy Turner! I'll rescue my own self!"

"Eeeeks!" Romi cried, pigtails exploding into balls of frizz again, "Couldn't you have waited until morning?!"

Tootie dashed down the hall, ignoring the alarms going off around her and searching for some kind of fire escape or emergency elevator, something that she could use to get out of wherever the heck she was and out into some fresh air and freedom. Sitting around and waiting to be saved was getting to be boring and a pain in the neck to do. Nothing was happening except for the nullifier field getting stronger and that itching getting worse. It must be because she was wearing the same clothes all this time. Tootie wanted decent food, a long shower and some sleep in her own soft bed; this damsel in distress business was a load of bull!

Her timing must have been pretty good, too. As the raven-haired girl found a maintenance elevator to use, she also noted a distinct lack of any kind of fairy traps hunting her. No destroyers with their guts full of knock out gas, no capture units to hook their nets over her head, no nullifiers or controllers of any kind. What was going on?

"Could it be...?" Tootie mumbled to herself, pushing her glasses higher up her nose in consideration, "Could it be that Timmy found me after all, and those things were called away to try and keep him away? Where the heck am I?!" She focused her attention on the call buttons in the elevator once she was inside, her eyes wide at the numerous circles in the menu. So many floors! Was she trapped inside a tower like some storybook princess? What kind of messed-up plan was this by Remy...?

"Oh, no way!" she breathed in realization, "Don't tell me... Remy locked us up inside a Dark Spire?!" Romi squealed again, her frizzy pigtails exploding into a cloud of black and silver hair to leave her with just a messy bob cut. Tootie pressed the button for the ground floor and pressed her back against the far wall of the elevator as it began descending, hugging herself tightly as she looked around in renewed fear.

She was inside an active Spire. If all the anti-magic units were gone, it's a good bet that it meant this place was under attack. Her friends would be outside, and they might not even know she was in here. What if they blew up the Dark Spire while she was still in it?!

"Wait for me to come out! Oh, please, please wait for me to get out of here!" Tootie cried softly, shifting back and forth on her feet nervously, "I don't want to be a pile of rubble on the six o'clock news!"


	20. Chapter 20

20

Dark Spire Two~

Timantha and Caleb raced onto the lot surrounding the towering black spire, a pair of fairies and a pair of anti-fairies fluttering around them. The night wasn't as dark as it normally was, surrounding blocks of high-class businesses lit up and active for the holiday festivities. It almost made Timantha want to back out; no way could she launch a two-man assault on a Dark Spire with so many people actually awake for it! But then she felt the hard hit of the nullifier field and she staggered, gasping for air with the Blue Crystal Rod weighing heavily against her back in a wished-up harness. Caleb halted abruptly beside her and clutched at his 'heart', groaning in pain, while Cosmo and Wanda wilted in the air before being hoisted up and steadied by their anti-selves.

If just being outside the Spire was doing _this_ to them, then what of Tootie and Romi **inside** the thing?!

"I... I don't understand." Timantha moaned dizzily, holding her head as she stumbled on broken shoes, "The... the field's not s'posed to 'fect me... with antis around."

"You have us **and** Cosmo and Wanda; we cancel each other out in regards to you!" Anti-Cosmo realized for her. The two fairies eventually pulled themselves up, magic rippling over them as they employed the old shifting frequencies tactic to survive the field temporarily. He turned to face them, "This rescue can't work if you two are here. It'd be best if you retreated for now."

"No." Cosmo growled just as Wanda opened her mouth to say the same thing. The double-blade of the Stormreaver pressed under the anti-fairy's chin, appearing from seemingly nowhere, as the dapper fairy lifted his head to glare coldly at his other self. "We're staying. We're fighting." he went on, flinching once more before shaking his head as though to clear it.

Timantha struggled to push mana outward, force off the effects of the nullifier field and tune herself to the darkness of the anti-fairies. She needed it, needed their black magic to survive this. But it seemed like she couldn't grasp whatever it was that let her use darkness. What had happened?

"We can't fight like this." Caleb muttered, forcing himself to stand up straight and clutching the fork in both hands tightly, "I'm sorry, but we have to retreat, plan something else..."

"I don't think we've got that choice anymore." Wanda remarked in that semi-panicked tone that she used whenever she was sure a wish was gonna bring hell on their heads. She pointed out at the rest of the lot, directing everyone's attentions to the literal army of anti-magic units swarming out of the Spire and heading towards them. "We've got incoming!"

Okay, so no darkness or black magic to help tonight. Fine. She didn't need it anyway! She was a Hero! Timantha's eyes blazed bright blue in righteous indignation that she would even _think_ of using black magic to rescue Tootie, lifting her arms so that spheres of red and gold blossomed into existence around her.

_"Bulla Scintillare!"_ she declared, throwing her hands forward and sending the mass of fire balls spiraling into the oncoming rush of machines. Explosions of light and heat detonated in their midst, blowing away whole squads of the things and setting thick clouds of oily smoke into the air. "Caleb, you think you can keep it together long enough for us to get into the Spire?"

"Thought I was..." the redhead mumbled, stumbling forward and dropping to one knee, "S-sorry... wanted to help..."

Timantha gave him a fearful look. They hadn't even **started** yet and already they were falling apart! Maybe they should have called for backup after all. She paused, then shook her head. No, that still would have taken too long.

Determined not to let Tootie and Romi down, Timantha reached out and placed a hand flat against the back of the android's shoulder, focusing her thoughts on what she wanted the mana to do. She felt Caleb twitch at the contact -he always got twitchy when she hugged him or grabbed his hand, even when she was just ten- and then had to rein her thoughts back in to regain focus.

"Cosmo, Wanda, you and the antis buy me some time. Smash up as many of those units as you can. Focus on the nullifiers and capture units." she ordered quickly, building the spell she wanted in her mind, "We're not on a Spire destruction mission. We just need to get in and get our friends out."

She didn't need to hear any responses. She felt the rush of wind as the four of them took off to do just that. Caleb couldn't adjust magic frequencies like Cosmo and Wanda, and he couldn't just power through the field like she could for short bursts of time. Best thing to do would be to put up a barrier around him that the nullification field would have to eat through first in order to get to his crystals again.

_"Mana Scield."_ she murmured, lifting her hand away as a wave of pale pink light rippled outward from where she'd touched him, coating the redhead from head to toe in a translucent shield that skipped the Wonder Fork. Caleb looked up at her in surprise, then raised a hand to look at the effect of her spell.

"I look like someone spat sparkling bubble gum at me." he remarked.

"Hey, I can turn it off if you don't like it." Timantha pouted, folding her arms over her chest.

"No, no! That's fine!" Caleb returned in an alarmed tone, eyes wide and free hand waving at him, "Just so long as it doesn't stick my hair together at the end of the night."

The force of will to hold herself steady wasn't going to last long. Timantha knew she'd eventually fall to the nullifier field herself and when she fell so would the barrier keeping Caleb in one piece, so getting this mission done fast was top priority. They raced side by side towards the numerous land and air based units that hadn't yet been destroyed by the raging fairies. Destroyers, capture units, nullifiers and control units alike blanketed the lot, and Cosmo kept raining down destruction from above, spinning in place with the Stormreaver and firing wave after wave of deadly air pressure blades.

Timantha nearly stumbled again, growing aggravated by her party attire ruining any momentum she was building. She halted in place, let Caleb run on ahead of her, and glared down at her own body. Okay, that's it. Her time as a girl was _done_. "Cosmo, Wanda! I wish I was a boy again!" she called out and waited. No change. Hadn't they heard her wish? "I said I wish I was a boy again!" she yelled louder. Still nothing. Why weren't they granting her-?

Oh. Nullifier field. Right.

There was barely enough magic in the air for them to stay alive, let alone grant a wish. Timantha smacked herself in the forehead, then paused as she looked at her own hand. Maybe... maybe she could change herself back? Undo her own wish? She had a spell for reverting things after all, and if it worked on changing Danny Phantom back to Herodom after that whole 'turning evil' thing, then it should also work on turning her back into the boy she had been before. Right?

One way to find out...

She took a deep breath and formed the image of herself as she was now in her mind. A tingling feeling ran over her while she lifted her hands to place onto her own shoulders, crossing them over her chest as she set her stance to brace for the change. The image of who she was before, her body as Timmy Turner, as Timothy Neogene, formed next. A familiar heat began to grow in her head, burning her from the inside out as she forced that image over the female one she had created first. _'That's who I am. I am a boy; I am Timmy Turner. Change me back so I can move without stumbling over myself!'_ she demanded of her own magic.

_"Mana Revertere!"_ she yelled in command and screamed as the burning engulfed her. Dimly, she heard Wanda scream her name, and then the world turned blinding white.

Moments after, the first thing the young immortal did was do a quick body check, chest first, then throat, then... south. Timmy gave a little yelp of surprise -first that something was actually there now, and then because that was awful indecent to do in public- and then laughed in relief as he pumped both fists into the air.

"I'm a boy!" he whooped.

"Congratulations!" Caleb yelled back over the battlefield, "Now get out of that dress and help me get through these things!"

Oh, right. That spell didn't work on clothes unless they were part of the original form; learned something new tonight, didn't he? Timmy felt a bit bad that the Gucci was gonna have to go, but the fabric was what he really needed. Once again, he pressed his hands against the torn and burnt dress, concentrating as he transformed the silk and silver into his usual stealth outfit, pouring in a little of his own mana to make up the difference in fabrics. There. Much better.

Timmy swept the rod from his back and charged into battle, yelling furiously as he swung it around to bat anti-magic units out of the air. For his part, Caleb was doing well in the 'cause as much damage to these things while getting past them' department. His wings were unfolded and he flew close to the ground, the giant fork held forward lengthwise to create a battering ram. Timmy ran after him in the cleared path, smashing the head of the Blue Crystal Rod into anything that tried to scurry in after either one of them. Wanda and Anti-Wanda both flew down to stay close to him, the fairy staring at him with wide eyes.

"You... you undid the wish!" Wanda whispered in shock. For a moment, Timmy thought he heard fear in her voice, but the rush of battling and getting through the units that kept trying to converge on them after Caleb cleared them made that seem like a trick of his ears.

"Kinda had to, Wanda!" he returned, grunting softly as he lashed the rod out and beat back another hovering nullifier unit, "I don't fight as well when I'm a girl! My body's too light and I can't focus on anything for long. If I'd done some training while a girl, maybe it would have been easier!"

But he hadn't trained, just assumed what he knew as a boy would carry over into the girl body and spent his time going over the original plan of rescue in his head, making sure Michael played his role and Timantha stayed out of sight and the party preparations were going right. He did everything **but** train and look what **that** got him in the study just an hour or so ago.

"Do I still have blood on my face?" he demanded suddenly.

"Timothy! Keep moving!" Caleb snapped back, "We'll be overwhelmed unless we reach the Spire interior!" The android had stopped flying, running instead while ducking units diving at him and the blades of air pressure Cosmo sent out in every direction. The pink barrier protecting him was growing thin; Timmy could see more of the green and red than pink now.

He darted after the redhead, the two Wandas trailing after him protectively. Swarms of silver rushed after him and Timmy gathered up what mana he could spare, throwing it out in a rush of wind. _"Gail Fortia!"_ Ground and aerial units were sent flying about and away from him. The loading dock doors were in sight now, shiny metal contrasting against the glossy black of the Spire walls. "We're getting close! Caleb! Get ready to go all out on my signal!" the brunet yelled and turned his focus on the metal gate blocking their way. It was farther away from him than the poker had been in Remy's study, but Timmy was pretty sure that he just needed to 'see' the mana in the thing and being close by was just a luxury. He knew what metal felt like, knew what that gate was like because it was just like the one Danny flew him through back near the beginning of all this.

_"Ofer Hoetu!"_ he commanded, pointing at the gate as Caleb ran straight for it, "Now!" The redhead shot forward much faster than he'd been running -_'Holding back to stay close to me, huh?'_- as the aluminum melted in red-hot streams of liquid metal, dripping and forming a large hole that the android leaped through. "Okay! Cosmo, Anti-Cosmo! Come on!" Timmy yelled towards the two still battling units. Cosmo lashed out one last time with the Stormreaver, setting a few of the aerial capture units into a chain reaction of explosions before grabbing his anti-self by the back of his coat and shooting towards the open gate.

Timmy leaped in after them, the two Wandas flitting towards their respective husbands while he turned and held his hands out towards the puddles of cooling metal, forcing them to remain liquid and raising them up to the hole he'd made. It was just like the elevator he made in the Dimma-Dump, manipulating the materials around him to form the dome and lift. Molten aluminum rippled up to the gap in the gate and closed over it as units started trying to fly or crawl in. Red cooled back into the dull gray of aluminum and Timmy staggered, feeling drained and exhausted.

He fell backwards, blinking in sleepy surprise as Caleb caught him before he completely collapsed. "You burned through a lot of mana getting us in here." the android muttered, laying one hand on his forehead. There was banging on the gate as the units outside tried to get in. Eventually, the noises began decreasing as fewer and fewer units assaulted the door, and finally... silence.

"They left?" Wanda breathed in confusion, unable to let herself relax.

"No need for them to stay. We've cornered ourselves for them." Cosmo stated in a cold, even tone, distant gaze on the gate as he let the Stormreaver vanish back into his wand. All eyes went to him in a mix of concerned, surprised or horrified expressions. The dapper fairy just shook his head. "Um.. shiny nickle?" he tried saying in his usual chipper tone, but it wasn't believable, just more worrisome to certain parties.

"We should get moving. Search the Spire for Tootie and Romi." Timmy muttered, trying to straighten himself up and feeling his legs go weak instead. He dropped abruptly, the android catching him once again and helping lower him to a sitting position on the floor and providing a support for the brunet to lean against.

"Not until you've rested and regained some mana." Caleb told him firmly, lifting a hand to watch the last of the pink barrier flicker and go out like a candle, "Your protection on me has failed, but the interior of this place seems like it's unaffected by the nullification field outside."

"That might not be the case. Not entirely." Anti-Cosmo mused aloud, gazing upward at the ceiling as he rubbed his chin, "It's possible for the field to be weak inside this ground floor of the Spire, but the generators for the field would likely be located on the upper tiers, near the tip of the Spire. In that case, the higher we go in the search, the more exposure we'll have to nullification and suffer these same side effects." He twitched almost violently then and turned a wide smile on the group. "And then we'll all go loopy doopy and do the monkey tango!"

"Okay, I expected that from Cosmo, not you." Timmy pointed out tiredly. The anti-fairy waved his arms in a fit.

"It's not **my** fault! It's this blasted transplanted gland of his!" he shot back in frustration, "**He** gets a piece of me and he starts thinking clearly; **I** get a piece of him and it ruins my image of perfect genius!"

They rested for a few minutes, Timmy scratching at his cheek and causing dried blood to flake off onto his gloves as he thought over how the night had gone. "Hey, Caleb? Did you get the Adventurer's Band back from Michael?" he asked quietly.

"Hm? Oh, no, I hadn't. It slipped my mind to get it from him. I was in a hurry to get here, after all." the android returned absently, sitting still while Timmy continued using his arm and side as a backrest. The brunet felt the corner of his mouth turn up in a smirk.

"You were worried about me, huh? After I told you I was gonna storm the Dark Spire and rescue Tootie and Romi?" he asked.

"I'd be lying if I said no." Which was a round-about way of saying 'yes', but Timmy was used to Caleb's weird way of showing affection. It was different from the way Cousin Danny said he used to show it, but it was kind of fun to coax out the truth from the words. It was like opening a present; the package might be weird and make no sense, but crack it open and the inside is something cool and fun. "How's your mana supply now?"

Timmy closed his eyes and turned his focus inward, frowning slightly at how much he'd used up and lost over the course of the night. "Not entirely great, but not drained enough to really worry over." he replied, "We can get moving now. Gotta rescue the girls."

"I'd feel better if you had more to work with. As insurance, if you will." Caleb remarked firmly, turning his head to give him a steady glare, "I don't like admitting that your magical alchemy is much more useful and flexible in situations like this than my own magic, but I can't deny the circumstances warrant putting my..." He trailed off, as if fighting to say what came next. "I'm going to have to put faith in your abilities." he finally forced out in a rush, "So drain the mana out of my secondary crystal and absorb it for yourself."

Timmy stared up at him in shock. Did he hear that right? He lifted a finger and stuck it in his ear, wiggling it around to be sure nothing was clogging the passage. Caleb just glared sullenly at him again.

"Don't pick in your ear; you could harm yourself and it's dirty. Besides, you still have dried blood on your gloves." he scolded and Timmy hurriedly yanked his finger back out. "But I meant what I said. We need you with as much mana as we can get you to support your type of magic. I'm offering you the mana in my secondary crystal; I can still work with my main and the magic use crystals."

"But..." Timmy began to protest before Caleb reached around to poke the boy on the tip of his nose with his free hand.

"You did it once before without my permission, when you drained my mana to create that shield the night we brought down our very first Dark Spire." he reminded, eyebrow raised, "I'm _giving_ you that permission to do it again, and now you waffle?"

"Is it gonna hurt?" the brunet asked worriedly, sitting up and facing the android. Caleb shook his head, watching impassively as Timmy lifted a hand and reached out to place it flat against his chest. "I only need a little bit, okay? Just a little."

"Timmy Turner, if you don't drain it dry, I'm going to make you wish you'd reconsidered retreating to assault this tower another day." Caleb told him in that tone of voice that made even the most hardy of Heroes shrink back from him. Timmy squeaked and turned his attention on seeking out the crystal to draw mana from. According to Danny, the main crystal was in the center of Caleb's chest, his 'heart', the magic crystal was on the left and the spare was on the right.

He sought out the crystal on the right and felt the gem, carefully probing it for the amount of mana it stored. His brow furrowed slightly as he sensed tiny cracks on its surface -_'Damage from the nullifier field, I bet.'_- and quickly sent extra filaments of his own mana in to check the other two crystals. They were also damaged slightly, and he could feel trace amounts of mana seeping out, which he ended up drawing out to himself without truly being aware of it.

"Nngh! Not those ones!" Caleb muttered with a tiny grunt of pain, "Focus!"

"S-sorry!" Timmy apologized hastily, and carefully grabbed onto some of the escaping mana to mesh into the cracks, picturing them crystallizing to seal the damages. There; that should make up for that. "I thought you said this wasn't going to hurt!"

"Do you remember me actually _saying_ that?" the android rebuked.

"You shook your head!"

"In some cultures, shaking your head means 'yes'."

Timmy growled and grumbled under his breath but went back to that rightmost crystal, sending tendrils of his own mana in to wrap around the gem and drain out the contents for himself. Right away he began to feel much better, more refreshed and energized. He started to pull his hand away, only to give a little jump when Caleb grabbed his wrist and held it in place.

"I said **all** of it. If you make me repeat it once more, I'll snap your wrist." the android hissed darkly and tilted his head as the blades of the Stormreaver curved around his neck from behind, their edges glittering under the florescent light of the Spire loading dock.

"Break his wrist, and I will end you." Cosmo whispered just as icily.

"What is it with being inside this place that brings out the worst in people?" Timmy sighed in frustration to cover the panic rising in the back of his mind, "No one's **breaking** anything; no one's **ending** anyone! Just calm down, the both of you!"

"I'm reconsidering staying around for the rest of this mission." Anti-Cosmo remarked to his wife and Wanda. Both of them just gave him a flat glare and he shrugged. "Just wanted to put a damper on this rather volatile situation."

The spare crystal was eventually drained of all mana, Caleb uttering little whimpers of pain throughout the process, and Timmy sat back to rub at his wrist while Cosmo poofed away the scythe and floated away aimlessly. "Um, thanks... for the mana boost." he muttered, "Could have done without the threat to my arm, though."

"Sorry." Caleb muttered back, "Old habit. Trying to break myself of it." He stood up and helped the brunet to his feet. "So, how do we start?"

"From the top and work our way down. That way we can just get the whole 'being close to the source of the field' thing over with fast." Timmy planned and ran for the back of the loading dock, "Look! Here's a couple of elevators. Let's take one to the top and get started." He pressed the call button and watched as the doors parted to reveal a spacious room. "Hm, cargo elevator, maybe?" he mused as Caleb, the fairies and the anti-fairies all hurried inside. Timmy looked over his shoulder at the scarring on the aluminum gate where he had resealed it, then shrugged and stepped into the elevator himself. The doors closed and they were on their way to the top for their rescue mission.

A few minutes later, the other set of elevator doors opened and Tootie stepped out with Romi on her shoulder. "That was the most boring fifteen minutes of my life." the girl grumbled to herself, stalking forward and jumping down from the platform to the loading dock driveway.

"It was a refreshing break, compared to everything else." Romi sighed, "Too bad it's about to end."

Tootie made her way up to the aluminum gate, pausing in surprise as she spotted the signs of welding all around the edges of a roundish shape in the metal. It looked like someone had taken a blowtorch, cut a large arch in the gate, then put the piece back and did a half-assed job of welding it back into place. She tilted her head, trying to figure out who the heck did that and why.

"Um, Tootie? I think someone else is in here." Romi told her in alarm, pointing towards the other elevator doors, "The light over the second elevator is on." The Goth blinked and looked over her shoulder at it, frowning in thought as she put two and two together.

"Could it be... Timmy and the gang are here to rescue us?" she exclaimed in realization. She ran back to the elevators, scrambling up the platform she'd jumped, and then banged her fists on the doors. _"Hey! I'm down here!"_ she yelled and stepped back, gazing helplessly at the ceiling. No use; the team had to be well on their way up to another floor to look for her. How had they even thought to look for her inside a Dark Spire? "Come on, Romi! We're going back up there!" she told her fairy and ran back to the first elevator, pressing the call button to open it up. Romi wilted as she fluttered over to sit on her shoulder again.

"Oh dear. I hope we have enough fairy orbs to last us through another round." she sighed.


	21. Chapter 21

21

~Dimmsdale Park

.

"We have people leaving the party." Trixie reported fairly breathlessly as she jogged up the steps to the stage. Apparently, the clash between the pixies, Team Turner, and the android copy of Timmy became considered some kind of party-ending climax, and now the party-goers themselves were beginning to drift towards the park exits. The group of teens and adults still on stage grew alarmed.

"They can't go yet! Timmy hasn't gotten to the mansion to help Timantha, and we still don't know where Tootie and Romi are!" A.J. protested, hands flying up to his head, "If all these people go out, and some epic magic battle breaks out, there could be some serious injuries!" Chester turned to the pop singer beside him worriedly.

"Any chance you can whip up another song or something?" he asked, gesturing towards the dispersing crowd, "Anything to keep them all staying here?" Chip bit his lip, following the gesture out to watch the people, and Chester suddenly felt like twenty kinds of guilt just landed on his head. The man looked _exhausted_. What had started as an encore of all his songs turned into an impromptu costume dance contest, and then into an impromptu _endurance_ costume dance party.

Chip couldn't last much longer after that. It was Vicky that had noticed his slip on his sixth run through My Shiny Teeth And Me -he replaced 'smile' with 'vile' and didn't look like he cared to correct it- and kicked out a boombox with his CD on repeat so she could drag him back behind the stage to rest. And now, only twenty minutes after that, the Leader of the Others was asking him to go out and sing again? Chester cringed and shook his head.

"Ah, man, no, I shouldn't have-." he began and trailed off as he gaped at the singer squaring his shoulders and heading over to the microphone stand.

"Dammit, you idiot!" Vicky snarled at him as she passed him by to reach the pop idol, "His voice is about to give out and you're throwing him to the wolves? What kind of replacement leader are you?" She slapped a hand over the microphone just as Chip opened his mouth and a wheeze came out instead of his famous voice. "You! Back in the emergency bunk and back to sleep!" she snapped, "Before I break your legs to make sure you don't moonwalk back out here like _some_ suicidal twerps I know!" The babysitter directed him backstage again, gripping his shoulders from behind to be sure he went while Chip gave Chester a helpless look on the way past him.

"We've got nothing else to keep them here." Trixie sighed hopelessly, "They'll be out of the park any minute now and whatever happens will come down on all of us. Hard." Chester watched his friends look despondent, certain of failure to protect even this small horde of Dimmsdale citizens. Sanjay looked out at the masses, mouth moving in silent prayer, and the blonde scowled, a renewed sense of determination firing up in his gut.

No way. Timmy wasn't here to keep things together, but he trusted him to handle the party in the park. Chester wasn't about to let the Heart down on this most important of missions. He turned and marched for the microphone himself, snatching it off the stand and tapping it to be sure it was on. The crackle told him all he needed to know. He took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, then straightened himself up to his full height as he turned to face the dispersing crowd, lifting the microphone to his mouth.

"People of Dimmsdale, **stop** where you are **now**." Chester ordered clearly, brows snapping downward in a fierce glare. All over the park, in the midst of gathering items and taking out keys, the party-goers froze in place. A.J., Elmer, Trixie, Sanjay, and even Vicky and Chip turned their heads to stare at him in shock, eyes wide.

"He's doing it again." Trixie whispered with a slight shake of his head, "How... how is he able to **do** that?"

"My name is Chester McBadbat. I am the Leader of the Others, second in command of Team Turner, and second most powerful influence in this city." the blonde redneck went on in that same firm tone, "Everyone and anyone hearing my voice, listen to me carefully and listen well." The people stayed still, tilting their heads to listen to the many speakers all over the park that broadcast the boy's voice. "You will all come back to the stage and spend the night telling stories about Timmy Turner and how his life should be remembered with happiness." Chester told the crowds, "You will not leave this park until I say you can leave. You will not fight, or cause a riot, or do anything to endanger yourselves or others. Food and drinks will be passed out, chairs and blankets too. Everything will be fine as long as you do as I say."

"**That** is an **order**."

As one, the party-goers turned away from the exits and walked back towards the stage, adults and children all looking up at Chester in confusion even as they did exactly as he told them to do. After a moment, people who weren't even at the party came in through the park entrances and joined the partiers, all simply because they happened to be in range of the broadcast.

"Good. Story-time. **Now.**" Chester ordered and walked back to his friends as the crowds began happily chatting away with one another, swapping stories and laughing. The blonde tossed the microphone to a still stunned Elmer standing next to Sanjay without looking, uncaring at the moment whether the boy caught it or not. "Tricks, you still have Apollo; you're on wish detail. Keep the people fed and stocked with blankets and chairs. Vicky, you're on Chip watch. Mark's gone dumpster-diving, so the rest of you guys come with me." he snapped out new orders, "We still have those limos on rent; we're going back to Remy's place and helping Timmy get his cousin and our friends back."

"How does he **do** that?" Trixie yelled, still hung up on the image of one scruffy redneck commanding an entire parkful of people to do exactly as he wanted without magical help.

"To be honest, I've never figured that out." A.J. told her as he started to leave, "And I'm kind of afraid to try."

She watched the boys leave and sighed, touching fingertips to her pendant. "Apollo!" she called and the fairy poofed into a human-sized form, wings, wand and crown in plain view. He held up a hand as she began to protest.

"Halloween, remember? I can walk in full view safely on this night." he told her and frowned, "You didn't tell Chester about that other incident you had while patrolling the park." Trixie wrung her hands, whining softly at the memory of it.

"There's no helping it. I **had** to tell Mr. and Mrs. Turner that Timothy Neogene was just too busy with work for them to be able to meet him and thank him for the party!" she returned helplessly and looked out at the crowd with a sigh, "I wish the buffet tables and drinks were all refilled." Apollo lifted his wand and with a poof of red smoke, the food and refreshments were once again stacked high and ready to feed the crowds several times over.

"Chester could have told them to forget talking to Timothy." he remarked with a wry grin, "Boy's got a heck of a voice."

"I didn't think he could order around _grown-ups_!" the Asian girl hissed and stomped around in a circle. Surprisingly, the combat boots she picked out to emulate Sam Manson's Goth style made the tromping much more satisfying. She considered keeping them in the closet when the night was over, then refocused on the subject of her ire. "If I had known **that**, I would have told him! The best I could do was make sure they never laid eyes on Timothy Neogene and distract them with some Timmy Turner memorial merchandise." Apollo shrugged, watching his godchild stomp around some more. The stage was a rental; who cared about the deposit anyway?

"No one outside of the team has any clue that Timothy Neogene is really You-Know-Who." he remarked, glancing towards the crowds. Even whispering his identity in public could blow everyone's cover. "All the adults are idiots, dumber than rocks and then some. What's the harm in the Turners saying thanks to a kid who's four years older than their dead son?"

Trixie stopped tromping around in circles and looked towards her fairy godfather with a sad little smile, shaking her head as if in pity of him. "Oh, Apollo. You really don't get it, do you?" she whispered, "It doesn't matter how much he's grown; a mother will always recognize her child. It's like a sixth sense for them."

And Apollo slapped his hand over his face, thanking his lucky stars that Timantha hadn't come back with the rescue team and the copy of Timothy had vanished.

* * *

~Dark Spire Two, Interior

.

Timmy sighed in a mix of boredom and annoyance as Wanda carefully parted his hair in search of nonexistent wounds. "I already told you, I healed them up after Remy whacked me with the poker." he explained again and rubbed at his forehead, trying to clean off the dried blood and getting nowhere with it.

"This is even better than Escalator Land!" Cosmo cheered, waving his arms around as he bounced from wall to wall in the elevator. Caleb clutched his head, trying hard to not look like he was on the verge of snapping.

"Someone _please_ make him stop that!" he growled before Anti-Cosmo pulled out a bag of cookies that the dapper fairy and his own wife both shot towards to open and munch away on. _"Thank you."_

"I just want to be sure you completely healed while under the effects of black magic." Wanda remarked and floated back from the brunet with a concerned look, "Anti-fairies aren't exactly known for their 'great healing' magic." Timmy folded his arms over his chest, leaning back against the elevator wall.

"Trust me. They're healed. Otherwise I'd have a heck of a headache right now." he muttered and rubbed at one temple, grimacing a little, "Actually, I'm getting one right now." Caleb hummed uncomfortably, one hand rising up to lay flat over his 'heart'. "Right, right, we're getting near the top floor. Nullifier field." the young immortal sighed and held out a hand, _"Mana Scield!"_

"No, not yet." Caleb suddenly told him as the pink barrier began forming over him. It retreated back to nothing and Timmy gave him a puzzled look. "When you use that shield, it blocks everything. I need access to my surroundings for a bit." The brunet still looked puzzled and Caleb shook his head with a small exasperated grin. "We're on the top floor, yes? And this is where the computers control the generators of the nullification field." He lifted a hand, wiggling his fingers at the boy. "I find the computers, I can shut off the nullifiers while you look for Tootie and Andromeda."

Timmy smiled broadly at him. "Hey! That's not a bad plan! I hadn't thought of doing that!" he exclaimed and jumped when the android bent to poke a finger at his nose, frowning at him.

"You have to remember what abilities each of your friends and allies has that can be used in any given situation. That's what makes a good leader; knowing where someone's skills and strengths can be of the most help to everyone in attacks like this one." Caleb told him and waited until the brunet nodded in understanding before standing back up to look towards the doors, "I know you said this was supposed to be strictly rescue, but I can't leave a Dark Spire in working condition if I have the chance to disable it."

"Nah, it's fine. You do what you need to; me, Cosmo, Wanda and the antis will get Tootie and Romi." Timmy replied with a shake of his head and gazed at his own hands before lifting them to press against the redhead's chest again, "But at least let me put a modified version of the shield on you."

"Modified?" he heard Caleb mutter in confusion before focusing on wrapping each of the mana crystals within him with layers of the _Mana Scield_, leaving just enough facets exposed for the System to actually work. He pulled away just as the elevator doors opened and the group hurried out to stand in the junction of several hallways.

"Yeah. I covered up a lot of your crystals with the shield, but there's gaps so you're not cut off from power. The nullifier will still drain them, but it'll be much slower since they have to eat at the shield too." Timmy explained quickly, looking around in indecision before looking up at him, "Can you tell which hall leads to those computers?" Caleb smirked before moving to standing before the entrance to each hall, listening carefully before finally selecting one.

"I hear faint humming coming from two of these halls; one could be from the computers, the other possibly the generators. I've isolated out the other sounds to pinpoint those." the android finally reported, a concerned expression replacing the earlier smug look he had, "It's a bit difficult to tell them apart at this distance."

"Then mark the location of one hall that hums and we shall all go together down the other hall, leaving a trail behind us." Anti-Cosmo suggested to the brunet, "Process of elimination, Timothy; we'll just explore each hall until we find your friends."

"We can't take our sweet time about it, like you!" Wanda protested in irritation, flying up to the anti to glare right at him, "You can survive in the nullifier field, but the rest of us can't!"

"Then we split up." Timmy decided firmly, pulling Wanda back by gently grasping her pant leg and tugging her towards himself, "Everyone take a hall and mark it with their name, Caleb takes one of the humming halls, I'll take the other, and we all search separately."

"Anti-Wanda, my dear, go and keep an eye on the dear boy." Anti-Cosmo told his wife with a smile and a pat on her hand.

"Shore thing!" Anti-Wanda exclaimed and poofed herself back into the dangling earring Timantha had worn, clipped onto Timmy's ear. The brunet looked startled at first, then a bit dubious as he blushed and looked up at the anti-fairy questioningly.

"You don't honestly expect her to _search_ that hall on her own, do you?" Anti-Cosmo asked him.

"Point. Okay, everyone! Let's go!" the brunet declared and the small team broke apart, racing down individual halls after writing out their names at the entrances, Caleb being the only one with a blank hallway.

A few minutes after Timmy's group split up, the second elevator arrived and opened to let Tootie and Romi off. The two girls looked around at the marked and unmarked halls, reading the names and looking surprised.

"He came by himself?" Tootie breathed in awe before shaking her head and growing confused, "With his fairies and their antis? Why didn't he bring the rest of the team?"

"Perhaps they're outside, distracting the units?" Romi wondered aloud. Tootie nodded slowly, a bit uncertain but it was as good an explanation as any. Timmy wasn't so dumb as to try taking on an entire Spire all on his own, after all. Right?

She picked out the hall Timmy had marked for himself and ran down it, her fairy flying along after her.

* * *

~Dark Spire, Exterior

.

Remy gazed up at the obsidian tower with a flat glare, Juandissimo floating at his side and watching him with concern. The lot was full of deactivated units, destroyers, nullifiers, captures and controllers littering the pavement like silver hail. One phone call to Crocker had them all shut off on the spot. The boy was still on the phone with the sullen old man, listening to him grumble about having to deactivate the machines when they could have just been moved back into the Spire to trap the intruders.

"There's someone inside that Spire I want very much to have in my grasp." the boy billionaire murmured in interruption, "No units are to be activated until I say so." Crocker grumbled under his breath again, but vaguely agreed, which was good enough for Remy. He hung up and slid the phone back into its protective case within the belt that was part of the Aces High armor.

"Remy, _amigo_, I do not think this is a good idea." Juandissimo said in a cautious tone.

"I'm still mad at you." the blonde growled, darting angry eyes towards his fairy godfather before refocusing on the Spire rising high above him, "The girl from my study is supposed to be here, inside there somewhere." Juandissimo's face blanched.

"You shut off the units from this Spire in order to chase **that** girl?" he asked in a strange tone, one eye starting to twitch, "_Mi amigo_, I doubt you made a good first impression by hitting her over the head with the fireplace poker. Why not call it a loss and find some other distraction?"

"She'll get over it." Remy murmured, rocking back and forth on his feet as he waited patiently, "And I doubt there's another girl in the world quite like her. Beauty, grace, power, strength, and all that _fire_**.** I think I'm infatuated with her." He grinned suddenly. "I **like** it."

Behind him, Juandissimo gagged, finger pointing into his open mouth as if to induce retching, eye twitching rapidly.

* * *

~Dark Spire, Interior

.

Looking into rooms he came across, Caleb continued his search for the Server Control Center that kept each Spire running and processed the data for creating the perfect nullification field. Granted, coming after the Spire without the rest of the team was probably the worst idea he'd gone along with in the last few million years, but things were turning out to go along with his plans after all. Perfect neutrality seemed to win yet again.

He peeked into another room and began to move on before pausing to review what he just saw, smiled, then stepped back to gaze into the control center, the brain of the Dark Spire.

_"Winning~."_ the android sang to himself smugly as he walked forward, looking over the numerous server racks and main control console. He paused at the sight of a large screen taking up the wall right above it, reading the data that scrolled along its black background. "Oh, you're getting close to completion, aren't you?" he murmured and looked down at the console again, "Let's change that."

A pair of palm scanners were built into the machine for some reason, possibly as security for accessing the control system and the data on the servers. Caleb set to work on pulling them apart and refitting them to act as a conduit for himself, ignoring the blare of alarms and flashing red lights that went off around him.

_'Don't care, don't care. Typing and reading by hand and eye will take too long to download this data. Timmy can find his friends; I'm interested in taking the nullifier program for myself.'_

The pads were rewired and flickered back to life, coming on with a soft green color rather than the vivid blue they had earlier. Caleb placed his palms on them and began a systematic takeover of the servers, forcing his way through the security measures to find the files needed for creating the nullification field. After a moment he smiled, green eyes glowing as they processed the streams of data and hit on the firewall protecting the servers. Another barrage of mental attacks on it brought the wall down and Caleb began collecting the files, downloading them into himself.

"That was easier than I thought it would be." he mused cheerfully, chuckling to himself, "These silly humans and their notions of advanced security; nothing can stand against the might of my superior magitechnology-based neuro-cortex."

Before him, the screen suddenly flickered and flashed, replacing the scrolling data with a video feed of Denzel Crocker, the man hunched over his own keyboard and scowling at the redhead. Caleb lifted an eyebrow, gazing up at the screen calmly.

"I wondered why my systems were reporting a hack in process." Crocker remarked blandly, "Hello, little angel. I thought you were defeated several times over by my nullifier program."

"Adaption's a bitch, isn't it?" Caleb returned with a grin, keeping a bit of his attention on the incoming files, _'Thirty percent. Not good. There's more data than I originally factored time for.'_

"Hm. You're hacking my Spires, but I don't see any kind of computer device connected to that console." the other man went on, fingers moving rapidly over his keyboard as his eyes scanned over the image before him, finally settling on Caleb's hands resting on the two palm readers. "Oh... Interesting. _You're_ the computer device. An artificial intelligence... an android!" Crocker's eyes gleamed with interest, "I wonder... are you a product of the Hounder Organization?"

"Sorry, that information's classified." Caleb returned with a smile, "In fact, if I recall correctly, you are currently in possession of a piece of technology that is the property of that organization. A small detector. I'd like that back, if you don't mind."

"Mm." Crocker hummed, eyes focused now on his own computer as he typed, "Oh, that thing. I suppose I can mail it back to your maker's main offices. There's nothing more I can learn from it after I dismantled it."

Caleb stiffened, a flicker of alarm running through him as his brow furrowed at the implication behind those words. _'He can't mean...'_ "I'm sorry? Did I hear that correctly? You... **dismantled** that device?" he asked, hoping his intuition was wrong.

"Yes. Took it apart, analyzed its inner workings and figured out most of its functions. The programming was much harder, but once I looked at it in the most basic of all computer languages it was simply a process of trial and error to reverse engineer it." the former elementary school teacher replied, smiling now as Caleb's eyes widened in horrified understanding.

_'He... reverse engineered magitechnology... MY programming of that device! No one is supposed to be able to **do** that without me to translate angelic language! How did **he** do it? The most basic of all computer languages; what does that...?'_

A sudden assault on his own defenses ripped a startled cry from his mouth and he staggered in place, teeth clenching together as he bent over the two pads before him. _'Wh-what was-?'_

"Oh, you've got a very sophisticated firewall and anti-intruder defense in place, too." Crocker remarked in dark amusement, typing away at his computer, "All computer languages, no matter what written language you use, boils down to two things; switch on, switch off. Using that, I can create my own programs to attack that most basic of functions in anything electronic, even something as advanced as you."

Caleb struggled to straighten back up, fighting the multiple waves of hostile programming pouring into his mind even as he tried to maintain his connection to the server files. "Nngh! Wh-what are you-? _What are you **doing** to me?_" he finally managed to yell out.

"Sending several viruses and worms after your firewall to keep it busy while I shut down your anti-intruder defense." Crocker returned casually, "In basic terms, I'm hacking you."

"_No!_ Stop it!" Caleb cried, shaking his head furiously in a futile effort to get the attacking programs out. He staggered again, leaning on the console for support as more processing power went to his defense. He should pull his hands free, he knew he should, but if he broke the connection, he'd lose the files he was downloading.

But maintaining that connection would give Crocker time to break through his personal firewalls and shields.

_'It's all... for the sake... of information!'_

"First wall down in three... two..." Crocker crooned with a sadistic grin, teeth bared and almost glowing in the light of his computer screen, "You'll soon be mine, Angel..."

"...one."

Caleb screamed as the first firewall shattered under the onslaught of hostile programming.

.

Timmy froze in place, eyes wide as a distant scream echoed faintly off the walls. He looked back over his shoulder, swallowing hard. The Spire just got a heck of a lot creepier all of a sudden. That scream; who was it?

"Don't be Tootie. Don't be Tootie." he mumbled, heading further down the hall. There were rooms of inactive units all along the way, but none of them activated, even when Timmy flooded one such room with _Lustrare Spiralis_, letting the spiral of light and lightning shred the machines. At one point, he even walked up to one and put his bare hand onto the black sensor bars that A.J. once told him were responsible for scanning for Cosmo's DNA.

Maybe they also scanned for heavy users of magic? It would explain why units would lock onto him at the weirdest times. Funny how they didn't for Tootie, but then she hadn't learned as many spells as he had. Not yet anyway.

He ran on, calling Tootie's name until a wave of the nullifier field pulsed out and he staggered, dropping to his knees as he hugged himself, retching. Anti-Wanda poofed free, hands pressed to her cheeks as she looked panicky.

"Oh no! Sugarsnack, you okay? Them goody-goody fairies ain't 'round here; use some nice black magic to git back on your feet!" she exclaimed, waving her arms around wildly. Timmy nodded, feeling faint as he tried feeling around for the dark magic the anti-fairies used, tried tuning himself to it.

He couldn't.

He couldn't feel the black magic; he could sense it, and it made him feel sicker than the nullifier, but he couldn't grab hold of it and use it himself. Why? It had never done that before! What changed to cause that? Timmy didn't feel that sense of loss of control over black magic until they first came onto the lot, so did the nullifier have something to do with it?

"I can't." he managed to gasp out, focusing inward on the boost of mana that Caleb gave him and pushing it outward in his own _Mana Scield_, wrapping ribbons of pink light over his body. With a sigh of relief, Timmy stood back up and held up a hand to look over the protective barrier. "Whatever happened to block me from using an anti-fairy's power, it's pretty strong." he muttered and looked up at Anti-Wanda, smiling for her sake, "But I'm okay now, see? Don't worry, Anti-Wanda. Let's keep looking for Tootie and Romi."

The anti-fairy nodded and poofed back into the clip-on earring, gripping onto the barrier that covered every bit of the boy. Timmy ran on ahead, grim determination on his face. That wave had been pretty strong, so the chances were good that the generators for the nullification field were right up ahead. Take those out and it will be much safer to find Tootie and Romi, reducing everyone's exposure to the field.

For a second, he thought he heard Tootie's voice calling his name in the distance. _'Don't worry, Tootie! I'm coming to help you! Just hang on a little longer!'_ Timmy thought, a small smile forming on his face as he dashed down the hall.

At the far end, he hit the motherload. The hall expanded outward into a massive room filled with huge black and bronze colored machines, whirring and humming loudly. Timmy gazed around at it all in awe, then lifted a hand, eyes wide at the thin layers of mana being lifted and shredded from his barrier. _Mana Scield_ was **not** going to last more than a couple of minutes here.

"I don't have any spells that can take out all of these generators in one go." Timmy moaned softly, looking around again in despair this time, "My best is _Lustrare Spiralis_ and that could barely take out one of those little rooms back there!" He looked down at his hands, spreading his fingers as he watched more pink disappear from his palms and arms. He frowned thoughtfully, recalling what Caleb once told him about his magic.

"I can cast any spell I want, as long as I can imagine it. My magic is based on my imagination." Timmy murmured and looked up at the dozens of generators, "If I can see it in my mind, I can make it happen here in life." He nodded firmly; okay, he could do this. He just had to focus on the image in his mind and pour the mana in to make it happen!

He closed his eyes, picturing _Lustrare Spiralis_ in his mind. That would be the base for this spell. The spiral of light and lightning would spin in the center of the room. Timmy could easily see that. Now the hard part; adding and modifying. Or maybe not so hard? He remembered Danny showing him a bunch of NASA documentaries about galaxies and clusters and all that space stuff. How those spirals of stars could spin so fast, they threw off whole limbs and those turned into a dozen little galaxies, all whirling around the universe. He pictured that happening in his mind, dozens of little twirling limbs of light and lightning flying away from the center spiral, rending into anything in the way.

"Got it!" Timmy declared in triumph, opening his eyes and lifting his hands, _"Lustrare Galaxis!"_ The spiral of light and lightning bloomed in the center of the massive room, spinning like a circular blade. Limbs were thrown off as it crackled and hurled little explosions of light all over the place. The generators began exploding, one after another, bombarded by multiple little spirals being generated and flung about. Timmy stepped back from his handiwork, alarmed at how quickly it was destroying everything in the room.

"Purty fireworks!" Anti-Wanda exclaimed happily.

"I think I overdid it! We gotta move; this place could blow any time now!" the brunet cried and bolted back to the hallway, leaving the spirals of magic behind to rip into the generators even as they shrank and expanded, alternating between being nullified by the weakening field and refueling from Timmy's mana feeding into the spell.

The room exploded in a flash of light, fire, lightning and metal, raging down the tunnel and held at bay only by the _Boltzman's Shield_ Timmy hastily put into place behind him, the immortal holding his ground to contain the damage and keep it from searing through the hall and possibly spill over into any place that might be holding Tootie and Romi.

"Gnngh! Anti-Wanda!" Timmy yelled, bracing his back against the wall blocking the inferno from the rest of the hallway. The anti-fairy poofed free of him, a pair of sunglasses on her face and a bucket of popcorn clutched in her feet. "Go find Anti-Cosmo!" he shouted, holding up a hand and forming a note out of what little mana he could spare, "Give that to him! Hurry!"

"Shore thing, Sugarsnack!" the anti exclaimed happily and snatched up the note, poofing away in a puff of pale blue smoke. Timmy cringed, digging in his heels as the wall was pushed forward by the force of the blasts still raging behind him. Well, **this** rescue mission wasn't going as he thought it would after all.


	22. Chapter 22

22

.

Timmy could feel the heat even through the wall of _Boltzman's Shield_ pressing against his back and shoulders. The tile floor beneath his feet was scratched and burned from where the force of the blasts he set off pushed the barrier forward while he tried pushing back. Every now and then, he would hear a distant scream, and it made him cringe, his mind thinking up all kinds of horrible reasons for there to be screaming in the Spire. Behind him, the shield made terrible popping noises as thin cracks started appearing over its surface.

And then he heard Tootie's voice again, calling his name, and he strengthened his resolve to hold back the explosions until they died out, or stopped trying to fill up the hall, either was good for him. He poured more mana into the shield, sealing the cracks and groaning from the effort. When the heck were Cosmo, Wanda and the antis going to show up? Did Anti-Wanda get distracted by something shiny?

"-mmy!"

There was her voice again, but so much clearer now. Almost like Tootie was right-

"Timmy! Oh, wow, that's _bright_. What the hell did you do?" the Goth exclaimed in joy that became surprise that became annoyance as she held up a hand to shield her eyes, Romi doing the same beside her. Timmy just stared in shock at the girl standing before him in her magitech armor, bare of belt and weapons, but looking like she'd come fresh to a battle.

"I, uh, um..." he stammered, brain short-circuiting for a moment before coming back around, "T-Tootie? What are **you** doing here?"

"Rescuing myself. What are **you** doing?" Tootie shot back, squinting against the bright blaze that still lit up the hall in reds and oranges.

"...Rescuing you? Sort of?" the brunet returned lamely, face flushing with embarrassment as he started to wonder what he looked like to her at this moment, face half-covered in dry blood, back pressed against a strained wall and the Blue Crystal Rod shoved uncomfortably between him and it. Tootie gave him as best an appraising look-over as she could while shielding her eyes, a decidedly unimpressed expression on her face.

"Well, Prince Charming, you should have asked Caleb for a For Dummies book on rescuing damsels trapped at the tops of towers, 'cause you're doing a piss-poor job of it." she told him flatly and glared up at the inferno, "That fire is _amazing_, though. What did you do?"

"I blew up the nullification generators, and it kinda came back to bite me in the butt." Timmy replied with a sheepish laugh as the wall was shoved forward again, "Uh? Lil help?" Tootie tilted her head one way, then the other, as if trying to look at the hall full of fire from another angle.

"Well, um... I guess we... Hell." she muttered in frustration, "I wish I had a pair of sunglasses." Romi sighed beside her.

"I'd love to grant that now that the field's gone, but I still don't have my wand." the fairy told her helplessly.

"Chester's got it. He took it to the party in the park." Timmy spoke up and shook his head at their puzzled looks, "Long story, tell you later." He held out a hand. "Tootie, give me your glasses." The girl slipped the cat's-eye frames off and passed them over, watching through her blurred vision as the tinted blue lenses deepened to a glossy black in the immortal's grip. "Okay, put them back on. That should work."

She slid the frames back on and hesitantly peeked at the raging fire that looked to be dying down now. The new tinting made it much more bearable to look at the flames, and she grinned. "Nice. The fire's going down, but there's still a lot of it out there." Tootie commented and then tilted her head, "Um, why are you trying to hold it back with _Boltzman's Shield_?"

Timmy looked at her like she'd just lost her mind. "To keep it from flooding the hall and burning you to death?" he retorted, "I mean, it'll hurt like all get out if **I** get set on fire, but last I checked I'm allowed to not really care that much about what happens to me in fatal situations like this one." The Goth hummed to herself, folding her arms over her chest -and Timmy had a new sense of appreciation over how she was able to do that, being a girl and all- and staring up at the firestorm. "So... help?" he added, wondering if his struggle to hold back a cracking wall barricading an inferno was too subtle for her.

"If everything has mana, and **fire** has mana, and you can **drain** mana from stuff that's around you," Tootie remarked in that thoughtful tone that screamed 'I'm surrounded by idiots', "why haven't you just drained that thing?"

Timmy gave her a flat glare. "You wanna know _why_? Lemme show you." he growled and turned his focus on the flames, shattering the wall and latching onto the mana in the fire in nearly the same moment. The inferno surged forward, and Tootie and Romi threw themselves backwards with cries of shock and alarm, but the fire suddenly turned back in on itself, as though sucked into a drain. More and more flames spiraled around that central point, suspended right in the middle of the hallway.

In a few moments, the last of the flames vanished, a flash of light erupting that nearly blinded the girl and her fairy. When the light faded, Tootie and Romi looked up to see the brunet floating high above them, hanging like a puppet with all its strings gone slack. He looked like he'd been dipped in liquid fire, reds and yellows and oranges rippling over his body. Slowly, Timmy descended from the air before dropping the last couple of feet to the floor with a soft grunt of pain. When the color faded, leaving him to look normal, Tootie and Romi both hurried to his side, the Goth rolling him onto his back in concern.

"Hah... there. Now you see?" Timmy panted with a shaky smile, face flushed and damp and glazed eyes looking up at her. He looked feverish. "Too much... of one Element's mana... I get affected by it." he wheezed, "Same with taking it from antis... 's why my magic turned black..." Tootie sighed harshly, shaking her head as she grabbed his hands and pulled him to his feet, slinging one arm across her shoulders and wrapping one of her own around his waist.

"Let's just get out of here and go home and never speak of this night or day or whatever ever again. Please?" Romi asked her godchild as they started hobbling down the hallway.

"Sounds good. Let's get the rest of the team and beat it." Tootie agreed, worried tone creeping into her voice, "Timmy, who else is here?"

"Caleb, Cosmo, Wanda, Anti-Cosmo, Anti-Wanda..." the brunet muttered, "Last four should be putting up barriers... then coming here... if they got my note." Two puffs of light blue smoke bloomed in the air nearby, clearing to reveal the anti-fairies and their light counterparts floating by them. Timmy beamed at them. "Better late... than never, huh?" he remarked happily.

"Yes, well, Anti-Wanda stopped for a little snack along the way and didn't have a napkin." Anti-Cosmo told him in a faintly sheepish tone, holding a dripping piece of paper between two fingertips and away from himself, "You can imagine it's not easy to decipher your words when they're covered in mustard and chili."

"Was good eatin', though!" Anti-Wanda declared brightly and chomped the note out of her husband's grasp, chewed, then swallowed in one go. Wanda looked down the hall, at the blackened and smoldering floor and walls, then down at the feverish immortal before looking over at Tootie and Romi.

"Well, at least you found your friends. Shame you can't do it without causing trouble for yourself." the pink-haired fairy scolded, exasperated glare focused on Timmy. He managed a one-shoulder shrug, and she rolled her eyes. "Well, this Spire's out of commission now, so that's a bonus. I guess." she sighed, "As soon as the leftover nullifier waves fade out, we can grant a wish to get out of here."

"I beg your pardon, Wanda." Anti-Cosmo pointed out dryly, "But aren't we forgetting someone?" He gestured out towards the end of the hall in the direction of the elevators just as another distant scream echoed around the walls.

"Caleb!" Timmy realized, eyes wide and blinking rapidly as he tried to shake off the fever and stumble forward, "So... all this time... he's been screaming his head off? And nobody went to help him?"

"We thought it was Tootie!" Wanda exclaimed in surprise, gesturing between herself and Cosmo, who had been strangely silent throughout the conversation.

"We're antis. We don't **help** anyone, normally." Anti-Cosmo told the brunet flatly, "You're a very rare exception, Timothy."

Timmy didn't answer him, breaking away from the group to run back down the hallway with a fairly uneven gait, almost stumbling at points from the fever. Tootie raced after him, calling his name again as the fairies and antis flew on to flank them and stay close. A heavy feeling sank in his stomach as he drew closer to the starting junction and the screams became easier to hear, pain and terror clear in the echoing voice. He shouldn't have split them up; he should have tried harder to think of another plan, but he was too caught up in just wanting to find Tootie and Romi and bring them home.

This was all his fault. He was horrible at rescuing people; Tootie was doing a way better job than him right now.

* * *

~Dark Spire, Exterior

.

Remy didn't know whether to smile or scowl when he saw the top of the Spire explode outward on one side, sending debris and fire and smoke pouring out into the night sky. So he kept his mouth in a thin line, waiting, watching, certain that the lovely girl from his study would soon come out of there. He rubbed a thumb over the choker he had torn from her neck back in the manor. It had carried a small Heart of Dimmsdale charm on it to protect her from wishes and he pulled it off to dump into a gutter first chance he had.

As soon as she was out of the Spire on her silly rescue mission, Remy was going to use a wish to whisk her to his side and from there to some nice restaurant or maybe a movie. What would be playing this time of night? Horrors, yes?

Behind him, Juandissimo kept up his awful acting of flailing around like something vile had been shoved down his throat and he couldn't get it out. It was kind of annoying to hear but the boy didn't feel like addressing him on the issue. He was still miffed that his fairy godfather had gotten the notion to betray him -weren't fairy godparents supposed to be blindly loyal to their godchildren?- and decided to give him the silent treatment until the convenience ended.

Still, it wouldn't hurt to have some extra reinforcements in case someone tried to foil his plans. Remy pulled out his phone again and dialed Crocker's number, waiting impatiently for him to pick up.

When he finally did, the old teacher was in a surly, distracted mood. _"What now? I'm busy."_ he griped, the faint sounds of screams providing a proper Halloween background.

"I want the Snipers activated and under my command at Spire Two." Remy told him curtly and lifted an eyebrow at the sound of keys tapping and the screams growing louder. "What **are** you doing? Is that some Halloween audio thing you're playing for the hell of it?" he demanded in irritation.

_"For your information, no. I found something interesting trying to hack the Spire Server Control System, so I'm hacking it back."_

"And... it screams? What is it, some kind of custom computer that wails when you push the wrong button?"

_"Something like that. So you want the Snipers active now? One moment, I've almost got him... ah, he still has a few more defenses left. That gives me some time to set up the activation."_ Remy rolled his eyes, tapping his foot against the pavement impatiently. _"All right. They're active and primed to follow your voice-print. Just command them to do whatever. Now if you don't **mind** I'm trying to seize control of a rather advanced piece of technology."_ He hung up abruptly and Remy sighed, putting the phone away as hatch doors embedded around the lot opened, revealing several dozen of the beautifully sleek, black units that were called Sniper because of the laser rifles mounted to their undercarriage.

"Looks like we're all getting new toys to play with tonight." he mused with a smirk.

* * *

~Dark Spire, Interior

.

One wing flared and stretched to its full length, mana shooting through intermittently to create the red 'feathers'. Caleb half lay over the console, gritting his teeth as he tried harder to pull his own wing down. The other stretched across the console beside him, 'feathers' flared for examination via the screen.

He'd already lost control of that one and refused to lose the other. He screamed again, pain and panic and fury filling his voice as another of his firewalls crashed down. Enraged, Caleb thrashed wildly against the control console, half-controlled wing flapping against the monitors and machinery.

_"Let go of me!"_ he yelled up at the leering old man hunched over his keyboard. He kicked at the console and floor with one leg, the other had seized up and buckled under him, forcing him into his current position to support his weight and keep his hands on the data pads.

The battle in his own system had raged for the last few minutes, with Caleb building up as many new defenses as he could behind ones that fell under the assault of worms and viruses while bolstering the download speed of the nullifier files. As firewalls were destroyed and control systems became exposed, the angelic android found himself with his worst nightmare coming to pass; control of his body was slowly being stripped from him, and he'd screamed in terror as his wings suddenly unfolded _without his command_.

From there he fought on three grounds; downloading files, rebuilding defenses, and trying to wrest back control of areas he'd lost. Splitting his focus only made him an easier target, and Caleb raged at that fact, screaming and cursing and thrashing as he lost his left wing and was forced to watch the smug look on Crocker's face as he typed out a command, moved that stupid little wired mouse to one side, and his wing, **his** beautifully crafted wing, obediently spread out and lay stretched for the old man to admire.

It was enough to make Caleb snap. If he'd had the Eternal Sword Pin, he would not have hesitated to use its power to **murder** that man in the viewscreen.

_"Oh, please, **do** keep fighting me. This is quite fun to watch."_ Crocker chuckled as he went on typing, _"You call yourself an angel, yet you swear enough to make a soldier faint. Oh? Now I'm getting access to some nice files. I think I'll just..."_

"No! No no no!" Caleb shrieked, and in frantic desperation slammed his forehead against the console, stunning himself with just how panicked and disoriented he was becoming. It was just enough loss of focus that his right wing snapped up and control of it slipped away from him.

He could feel files in his mind being opened, scanned over, and copied. _Copied!_ He shrieked again, growing past rage to full on wrathful, thrashing about harder as Crocker repeated the motion with his mouse and his right wing lay down over the console.

It was humiliating; wings spread out and bowed over the machine, Caleb felt horribly exposed and all he could do was give up on trying to get his wings back for the moment and focus on protecting what ground he had left. If he lost access to his core systems, if Crocker broke past those last barriers, it would all be over.

He'd be trapped in his own body while it became a puppet in Crocker's hands.

_"Let me **go**! Let me **go**! Stop it!"_ he screamed, and still he refused to lift his hands away from the pads. All for the sake of information, for the sake of gaining knowledge of what the data entailed. Perfect neutrality was going to kill him one day. But he had eighty percent of the program downloaded and he just had to hold on, a little longer, a little longer.

_"More of that strange written language again. Luckily I can read one word in all this mess. It repeats often, so I'm assuming it's a reference to you."_ Crocker mused aloud, more a gloat than actual wondering, _"Would I be right in assuming your designation is 'Caleb'? A Hebrew name for faithful, the ever-loyal servant of the divine. Didn't peg Hounder to be of Jewish faith."_

"Get **out** of **my** head!" Caleb yelled, eyes blazing bright green with vengeful fury, promises of horrible revenge written all over his face.

_"I guess that's a yes. So... Caleb, then. Short, to the point, significant. I like it. Know what I like the sound of better? **My** Caleb. How does that appeal to you?"_ Crocker asked him conversationally. Caleb snarled something that probably would have made the demons of Niflheim take offense. _"I suppose it doesn't, not now. We can fix that once I've broken you like I broke Hounder's little detection device."_

Another wall went down and the android was horrified to find a sob escape his mouth, struggling to pick himself up but unable to as his wings held him in place far better than anything else. "P-please! Get out of me!" Caleb begged, hating himself for it, "I'm the Guardian Angel of Heroes! You **can't** do this to me!"

_"You sound like you're starting to break. Am I getting close to the best part of your programming? That explains these new barriers. Lucky thing Buxaplenty paid for the very best hacking programs money could buy."_ Crocker sneered gleefully, _"Would you like to see what they do to firewalls like those?"_ Caleb shook his head furiously as he debated what to do, which of the two grounds he was battling on was more important. What to focus on; the download of the files, or protecting his core systems from being invaded and overridden?

_"They eat them, Caleb; tear at coding like maggots on decayed flesh."_ the old man whispered darkly, watching the android shudder and cringe, trying to pull away from the screen and unable to move, _"They writhe through the little cracks and pull them apart layer by layer. I imagine it would be quite like being flayed alive, if you were human. Can you feel it? I've already poured them into your outer systems; they'll be reaching that barrier... now."_

Pain exploded in Caleb's mind, ripping another scream from his mouth. His firewalls began crumbling under the onslaught, the strongest ones he had left, the ones that stood guard over his core systems. They began cracking, strings of code falling apart and collapsing while the hostile programming chewed right through them and he shuddered as he made his choice.

"Crocker? What are you _**doing**_ to him?" Timmy cried in horror behind him, and Caleb moaned softly, trying to shrink and hide behind his outstretched wings. He didn't want the boy to see him like this, at his lowest, at his most humiliated.

_"Ah, the new Timmy, the one fighting on behalf of the dead Heart."_ Crocker returned almost reverently, breathing the name as if it were divine, _"How are you doing? Have you gotten any stronger? I hope you have; I want to see you at your most powerful. Soon, very soon."_

"Forget all that! What are you doing to Caleb? Stop it! Let him go!" Timothy demanded, stepping into the room and standing unsteadily before the screen as Tootie and the fairies rushed in and then hurriedly backed out, eyes wide and horrified at what they saw within the room. Crocker paid them no attention, focus almost entirely on the brunet and the redhead.

_"No, I don't think I will. I'm going to take control of your toy there, and I'll tell him to come to me and help me with my plans."_ the old teacher returned evenly, _"You've disabled that Dark Spire, haven't you? I don't care about it. I just want you to be strong for my purposes. Then, maybe I'll be forgiven for the death of Timmy Turner."_

Timothy shook his head, still shocked that Caleb was caught up in some horrible computer trap. "You don't have to do any of this, anything at all! You weren't responsible for Timmy Turner's death!" he declared, holding a hand up to his heart, "I've been investigating with the help of my team; you were framed by Remy! He was the one who conspired to murder Timmy four years ago! You're innocent of it all! Shut off the Dark Spires and let Caleb go! **Now!**"

Crocker stared at him, expression giving nothing away as he clasped his hands together in front of him, just before the keyboard. Caleb slumped against the console, body going completely slack as he closed his eyes, waiting for the end of his choice to come to pass. Timothy stood in the control center, willing the old man on the screen to agree with him.

_"It doesn't matter, in the end. We are all guilty of not seeing the Heart for the treasure he was to us. We are all murderers."_ Crocker told him bluntly, _"Dimmsdale will burn without the Heart; my only interest is in gaining his forgiveness, not yours."_ He looked over at the redhead lying still on the console. _"Just two more firewalls to go."_

"Old man." Caleb growled softly, opening his eyes to glare up at the screen, "Are you recording this? Are you documenting what you're doing to me on that pathetic little computer in your wretched lair?"

_"Purely for entertainment value, yes. Why?"_

The smile spreading over Caleb's face was nothing less than pure malicious malevolence. "Good. That makes my job easier." he purred, resting his chin on the topmost edge of the console, "You see, I've finished getting what I wanted out of these servers. Now I'm going to give you something to make sure whatever you stole from me is useless to you."

"Caleb? What are you gonna do?" Timmy asked him in alarm, "What did Crocker steal from you? What happened?" The android ignored him, just took a deep breath... then began to sing.

_"Gather, gather, twelve from virgin hens. One, one quarter, cup sweet snow in your hands."_ Caleb sang aloud. Both Timmy and Crocker stared at him in confusion, heads tilting. At the doorway Tootie scratched her head and looked up to the fairies.

"Any of you guys know what he's doing?" she asked as the singing went on, each lyric stranger than the last. Wanda scrunched up her face, as if trying to figure out what was the point of singing such a bizarre song. Cosmo scratched at his chin, thinking it over as well before snapping his fingers with a smile.

"I know this song! It's the 'Make All The Electronic Stuff Go Boom' song!" he laughed. Tootie's eye twitched behind her glasses as she glanced around at the rows and rows of servers blinking away in the room.

"Um... there's a **lot** of electronic stuff in there." she commented.

_"Rise, rise, rise, mountains of snow. Sprout from single flower, quarter, quarter, twice I know. Draw your breath from before, brace for warmth."_ Caleb sang, that smile never leaving his face as Crocker bent back to his work, deciding that he'd gone insane.

"I'm just... I'm just gonna back up a little." Timmy remarked, looking faintly disturbed as he backed away from the android. What the heck was he doing?"

"Timmy! Put up a shield!" Wanda cried as she realized at last what was happening. The brunet gave a start, leaping back to the entrance of the room and throwing his hands forward to project _Boltzman's Shield_. Instead of the cool iridescent blue cascade that rippled before him, the wall was now a fiery red and gold, shapes dancing through like a campfire.

"See? Affected." the still-feverish boy grumbled to Tootie.

_"Final firewall down in three..."_

_"Soft, soft, warm until soft."_

_"Two..."_

_"And when the land springs..."_

_"One..."_

_"Angel's kiss bless us all!"_

Simultaneously, both the console and Crocker's computer flashed red light, grating electronic screams sounding from the machinery as sparks flew from the servers. Crocker pushed himself back from his desktop with a sharp curse, the video feed flickering as his computer sparked and popped and finally exploded. Timmy and Tootie, with the fairies hovering around them, watched in shock as the dozens of servers began exploding within the room, Caleb still slumped against the console and unmoving.

"Cosmo, Wanda! I wish Caleb was out here with us!" the brunet finally found his voice and blurted out the wish. The couple lifted their wands and, with a poof of pink smoke, the android appeared in the hallway, lying on the floor with both wings still unfolded. "Tootie, check if he's okay. I'm still holding the shield in place."

The Goth's idea of 'checking if someone's okay' involved poking them in the face until they woke up and growled at her. In Caleb's case, it took a couple of minutes before he opened one eye and glared at her with it. She grinned and looked back over her shoulder. "He's fine!" she declared.

"Depends on your definition of 'fine'." the redhead grumbled, pushing himself up and getting to his feet, "I cut that way too close. Just a hair slower in singing the Wonder Lullaby and I'd be some creepy old man's new toy." He shuddered, a look of disgust on his face. "I don't want to have to go through **that** again." he muttered. He looked back and scowled at his wings. "On top of that, I _still_ can't get control of my wings back. Those viruses are still running and it'll be a bit before I can kill them and completely recover from the damage."

Anti-Cosmo lifted his hand, his face incredulous by what he'd witnessed. "Forgive me for not being 'in the loop', but how did a ridiculous song like that destroy every electrical device in that room and Crocker's computer?" he demanded to know in that trilling tone he got when genuinely baffled by something.

"Honestly? I don't know myself." Caleb told him with a shrug, "I just discovered one day that any electronic device that tries to record my voice singing that song self-destructs." He looked down at Tootie and Romi, frowning slightly. "Are you two all right? I assume you've both been sealed up here ever since you were captured."

"We're okay." Tootie told him, "We were kept fed and there was a bathroom here, so at least our little prison was built for living people."

"Yes, so if it's not too much trouble, may we please leave now?" Romi pleaded, hair a frazzled mess and expression one of someone on the verge of dropping out of exhaustion. Timmy dropped the shield and turned to face the group, smiling tiredly.

"I think we can go to the park now. The nullification generators have been destroyed along with the Spire Server Control Center. This tower's pretty much out of commission." the brunet agreed and looked worriedly at the android, "Now are you sure you're okay, Caleb?"

"I'll be fine once I get back to New York and get my systems scanned and these viruses purged." the redhead dismissed airily, waving one hand aside, "Would you wish us to the parking lot outside? If there were any units active outside when the Spire shut down, they'll be offline and I can take a few back with me for analysis." His gaze sharpened towards the smoking room behind the brunet. "I am **not** happy with what that human did to me, and I'd rather take out my frustrations on his little creations."

Timmy sighed, rolling his eyes. His teacher tended to go off on long-winded rants if he didn't get what he wanted, so better get him his toys now. "Fine. Cosmo, Wanda, I wish we were all outside the Spire and on the lot below us." he declared, thrusting a finger into the air.

"Finally! I thought we were going to be here all night." Wanda sighed in relief, lifting her wand in tandem with her husband and poofing them all away.

* * *

~Dark Spire, Exterior

.

When the pink smoke cleared, Timmy's jaw dropped in horror, blue eyes wide as he took in the sight of a cloud of sleek black machines, some armed with strange rifles and some not, floating around the group, Remy Buxaplenty standing a short distance away with a puzzled look on his face.

"I was expecting a beautiful girl to come out of there, dragging that sorry Goth and her fairy after her." the blonde remarked with an annoyed lilt to his voice, glaring at the brunet, "Instead I find you, mongrel, with that irritating angel, the antis and..." He paused, blinking at Cosmo and Wanda floating nearby with stunned expressions on their faces as they kept their eyes on the new units. "_Both_ of Turner's fairies? _Here?_ How-?"

**"Run!"** Timmy yelled, racing forward to throw himself at the boy billionaire, knocking them both to the ground. Caleb grabbed Tootie by the hand and bolted, darting over the pavement as Romi screamed and raced after them, flying as fast as she could while several of the black units broke away from the pack and followed them. Cosmo and Wanda hesitated, gazes going back and forth between the scuffling boys and the remaining armed units aiming their guns at the two, several other black units deploying butterfly nets in preparation for capture.

"Anti-Cosmo! Get them out of here!" Timmy roared as he was shoved back against the pavement, the blonde taking that chance to swing back a fist and punch him squarely in the face.

"Let's go, idiots!" the anti-fairy cried, grabbing both fairies by the backs of their shirts and taking off into the air, beating his wings rapidly as his wife followed after, chucking boots and yowling black cats after the units that swerved to follow them. Juandissimo watched them zip away in streaks of pink, green and deep blue, and found himself longing to join them in their escape. Then he sighed and turned back to watch the battling boys with a grim expression on his face.

"Where is she?" Remy demanded, gripping the brunet by the collar of his turtleneck and shaking him fiercely. Timmy coughed, hands clutching at the other boy's wrists. Nose bleeding and head swimming from pain and fever, he forced his eyes open to smile widely at the enraged blonde.

"Wh-who?" he asked in return.

"Your sister, you insufferable mongrel!" Remy snarled, shaking him harder, "That girl you sent to my mansion to find your little girlfriend and her fairy! She said she was coming here, so I came as well and instead of her, I find **you**!"

Timmy laughed, shaky and forced, before suddenly striking back himself and slamming the heel of his hand against the side of Remy's head. The blonde fell aside in shock, pain and surprise that the brunet would even **do** that, one hand rising up to press against the throbbing sore spot. Timmy scrambled to his feet, pulling the Blue Crystal Rod free and swinging it to knock one of the new black units down. The others hummed as they hovered further out of reach, armed units moving back while netted ones quivered as if in anticipation.

"Y-you came here... for _Timantha_?" the immortal asked incredulously, rubbing his arm across his face to try wiping blood away. He laughed again, then spat out a mouthful of the liquid onto the ground. "You just keep digging yourself deeper... don'tcha?" he added, shaking his head.

"Where **is** she?" Remy growled, scrabbling up to his feet and running straight at the brunet again. Timmy tried leaping away, swayed unsteadily instead, and held up the rod in an attempt to hold the blonde at bay. Remy slammed right into him, hurling him back enough to smash the brunet against the base of the Dark Spire and press the rod hard across his ribcage. Timmy cried out in pain, gasping as it became harder to breathe. Remy applied more pressure to the replicated staff, glaring furiously at his rival while the brunet kicked weakly at his armored legs. "Tell me where she is, or I'll break your ribs with your staff." he growled, "My Sniper-class units will hunt down and fire on your little allies and Turner's fairies. I don't know how you got both of them working for you, or even how their magic affected you. I don't care now." He leaned more weight on the rod and grinned coldly at the strangled cry of pain that elicited. "The girl you call Timantha; where is she?"

"M-my... my face." Timmy gasped out, pushing back on the rod to gain space and breathing room. He clenched his teeth together from the effort, grimacing as his vision grew hazy again.

"Who cares about your stupid face? Where is the girl?" Remy snapped.

"No... haven't you noticed?" Timmy growled back, glaring at the blonde as he forced him to take a few shuffling steps back, both of them gripping the Blue Crystal Rod, "The blood... on my face... doesn't it look familiar to you?" Green eyes grew faintly confused, tracing over the features of his face rapidly before returning to glare back at him.

"No, it doesn't. Stop changing the subject!" Remy hissed.

"I am not!" Timmy snapped, giving the blonde a swift kick to the stomach that had Remy double over with a grunt, releasing his hold on the staff. The young immortal yanked it free and over his head before snapping his leg upward to catch the other boy's chin, flinging him backwards. Juandissimo immediately waved his wand to heal his godchild's injuries, glaring angrily at the brunet for daring to kick him like that. Timmy leaned heavily against the rod for support, breathing hard and wincing at the cracked ribs. "That," he bit out harshly, "was for beating me over the head with your stupid poker!" Remy groaned, twitching before rolling aside to get up and scowl at him.

"I did no such thing to you!" he spat as he got to his feet, pulling his rapier free, "But if I had the opportunity, I'd love to cave your skull in and see if you can survive **that**!"

"And what's with all these new units?" Timmy yelled in frustration, "I destroyed the Spire Control Center; they shouldn't even be active!" He swung the rod suddenly, hitting one of the downed silver units like a giant golf ball and launching it in Remy's direction, "They should be dead like _**these** things_!"

The blonde dodged the sudden attack and dashed forward, thrusting the rapier ahead of himself. Timmy cried out in pain as the steel plunged through his body, just under his rib cage. He cringed -that was going to leave a hell of a scar on both sides of his body-, one hand clutching at Remy's shoulder while the other held onto the staff.

"You should have **stayed** dead." Remy murmured darkly, twisting the rapier and listening to the brunet whimper, "Now where is your sister?"

"T-too bad." Timmy returned with a grim smile, lifting his head as he focused on the excess fire mana still stored in himself, "I was looking forward to being the boy who would be queen, but running me through the gut with your sword? Deal-breaker!" Remy had a brief second to look completely baffled by his words before Timmy unleashed the extra mana, wrapping himself in the flames and driving the blonde back. The boy billionaire cried out in shock and alarm, releasing the rapier and slapping at his arm to put out the extra flames. _"Gail Fortia!"_

The wind rushed out from him, carrying the flames up and outward into the black units. Timmy watched carefully to see how the units reacted, eyes widening as his spell fizzled out as they drew close to each unit. _'Nullifiers? Each one has its own nullifier!'_

"The Dark Spires now have backup control centers sealed within the cores of each tower! There's no way you can shut **these** units down and we'll still get information on what dirty tactics you use!" Remy declared arrogantly, narrowing his eyes as Timmy pulled the bloodied rapier out of his body and held it out to him.

"Thanks for the info. You want this back?" the brunet quipped dryly.

"I'd rather have your sister." Remy grumbled.

"Yeah? Well, you're not **getting** her." Timmy shot back, tossing the sword away, _'Especially since **I'm** the girl you're so gung-ho on nabbing! How do I get myself **into** these messes?'_

"You'll tell me where she is, or my Sniper-class units will gun down your little friends back there." Remy threatened, his voice hitching a little halfway through. His eyes darted around, then up at Juandissimo, who just gave him a sad, disappointed look and shook his head. "I will! I swear I'll have them all shot up with lasers and... and stuff!" he declared shakily.

"No. You won't." Timothy returned grimly, stepping backwards until his back hit the base of the Spire again, "You murdered Timmy Turner four years ago for these Dark Spires; I'm not going to let you murder any more innocent people." He reached back, placing his open hand against the smooth black granite. "If the backup control system is protected by being stuck in the middle of the tower, then I'll just have to get rid of the whole thing."

"You can't! You have no allies with you, no equipment, and you don't have the magical power to take out an entire Dark Spire all on your own!" Remy declared with a triumphant smile, pointing at him victoriously, "Face it, Neogene; you **have** nothing and will **be** nothing!"

He could feel it; fairy magic coating the black granite, protecting it from outside attack, the mana that formed the rock and the metal and the plastic and everything inside the tower. Timmy closed his eyes, focusing, clearing his mind and concentrating only on that flow of mana in the tower.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Remy questioned shakily, curious as to what the brunet was planning with his back to the wall. Literally. He looked up at Juandissimo in confusion. "What is he doing?"

"I do not know, _amigo_. Contemplating defeat? The futility of life?" the Latino fairy replied with an indifferent shrug, "The unsexiness of the idea that you have the hots for his 'sister'?"

"I didn't ask for your opinion on **that**." Remy growled, turning back to glare at the brunet, pulling a dagger from his belt and stalking forward, "But I'm going to go **break** his concentration."

Mana could become anything he wished if he could picture it and enforce that image in his head onto reality itself. Anything was possible if he could imagine it and just do it. Images of the Spire blueprints swept through his mind, hours spent poring over them all to find weak spots and plan attacks. He knew how the Spires were built from foundation on up; he could see it all perfectly in his mind.

And he was not in a good mood after all he'd been through tonight.

Just as Remy drew close enough to drive the dagger into him, Timothy opened his eyes and lashed out, gripping the boy's wrist and taking him by surprise. He stepped forward, forcing the startled blonde back as he growled in new frustration and fury. "You have really, **really** gotten on my nerves tonight, Remy." he hissed, "You kidnapped my friends, you hurt your own fairy, you teamed up with pixies to murder Timmy Turner, you threw my anti-fairies out a window while they were hurt, you clocked me on the head with a _freaking fireplace poker_, and worst of all, **ruined** the dress Caleb **bought** for me!" The boy billionaire's eyes seemed to just bug out of his head at the list of crimes being listed off.

"So you know what? I'm going to tell you something, and you'd better listen good, because I'm only saying it once." Timothy went on icily, sliding the Blue Crystal Rod back into his harness and plucking the dagger out of Remy's hand to show it to him, "I am an immortal; I can never die. I can take this dagger, which has your name written on it, and stab myself in the heart with it. Just stab it right in there. It'll hurt, but it won't kill me. I'll bleed all over it, and then I'll send it to the police, with a note, that says 'Remy Buxaplenty used this knife to kill Timothy Neogene, the adopted son of Hounder and heir to the Hounder Organization.'"

"And then I'll go to your house and lie down on the floor and wait. Wait for the cops to show up and take pictures and collect evidence and put me in a body bag for autopsy. And you'll be hauled in and arrested and charged with **my** murder. And I'll just get up and walk out of the morgue. Just like that."

Narrow blue eyes met horrified green, faces brought so close together their noses nearly touched. "Now, Remy," Timmy finished harshly, "be glad, so _very_ glad, I'm the **good** guy."

With that, he flicked the dagger down so it stuck into the pavement, a dome of iridescent mana flowing down from over the both of them and creating a large enough _Boltzman's Shield_ to cover the immortal, the boy billionaire and the Latino fairy, then threw his hand back to snap fingers at the Dark Spire, the sound cracking unnaturally loud in the dead silence.

A blast of fire and roaring thunder went off around the base of the Spire, wrapping and skipping around the dome to leave the three of them untouched. The ground shook violently, but Timmy stood firm, holding the terrified blonde up by his wrist so he could watch every moment. Behind the brunet, the bright flames lighting him made him seem so much fiercer, blue eyes so inhumanely bright, and the Dark Spire shuddered. Metal and granite groaned and screamed with unearthly voices and finally, the entire tower lifted off, ribbons of mana streaming out from the sides of the building to create translucent stabilizing wings.

Higher and higher, the Dark Spire rocket climbed into the skies above Dimmsdale, until it was little more than a speck of pitch black against the deep purple of the night. And then it exploded, a massive blast that formed a tiny sun to shine down on the miserable city. Whatever black units hadn't been destroyed by the ignition and launch immediately dropped out of the sky, smashing themselves against pavement in their deactivation.

When the smoke cleared, Timmy dropped the dome and shoved Remy back from himself, breathing hard and pressing one hand over the gushing wound below his ribs. The other boy was pale, trembling and unable to look away from him.

_"Run."_ Timmy whispered, and Remy fled the lot with Juandissimo flying after him, the fairy glancing back at him in horror. Police sirens filled the air and Timmy decided he just didn't care anymore. He took a seat on the ground, surrounded by dead anti-magic units and sighed heavily before twirling a finger in the air.

"Whoo hoo." he muttered tiredly, "Happy Halloween, Dimmsdale. Hope you liked my fireworks show."


	23. Chapter 23

23

.

~T Minus 3 Minutes

.

"Hey, slow down! I can't keep up with you when I can't see where I'm going!" Tootie exclaimed, scrambling to stay up to speed with the android dragging her and Romi around in random directions.

"What are you doing wearing sunglasses at **night** in the first place?" Caleb snapped, scanning the skies for the black units and running down another random street.

"It wasn't **my** idea! Timmy made them like this so I wouldn't be blinded by the fire!" she yelled back.

"What fire?"

"The one he caused blowing up the nullification generators!"

"Pardon me for not noticing due to hacking attempts being made on me." the android grumbled and ducked them all under a cafe awning for a breather. He kept watch on the skies, peeking out from under the cloth, while Tootie and Romi rested, breathing hard. "I can hear them flying around nearby. They'll find us soon." he murmured and pulled the Wonder Fork from his back, "Best be on the safe side. _Defend us from the blows of the enemy! Field Barrier!_"

The faint protective glow of blue light wrapped around Caleb and Tootie, but Romi remained unaffected. The fairy shrugged helplessly, a little smile on her face. "Sorry, your magic is too low on the spectrum to touch me." she told the android, then yipped and bowed repeatedly in apology when Caleb scowled at her, "I'm sorry, but it's true! Sorry!"

"Hey, what happened back there, in the control center?" Tootie interrupted the stream of apologies with a change of subjects, sending a concerned look in the android's direction. Caleb kept silent, gazing out at the sky as his wings twitched, the metal framework trying to fold down before flicking back with little mechanical whines of protest. "Come on. It's no good to hold it inside." the girl prodded, poking his arm, "Timmy was worried and asked, and you didn't answer him, so tell me. What happened?"

"I was trying to shut down the servers, but the connection I built allowed Crocker to break into my personal systems." Caleb finally murmured, scanning the skies to avoid looking at either the girl or the fairy, "So he infected me with a bunch of worms, viruses, hostile programs that attacked the basic functions of all computer code. I hadn't thought to defend against that kind of attack, so he destroyed a lot of my firewalls pretty easily before I mounted a better defense." He jerked a thumb back at his wings. "I knew I was losing when he took control of my wings, and I panicked." he sighed, shaking his head, "You probably don't understand, but it's a real fear for me. This is **my** body, and to see control of it slipping away from me, piece by piece... it scared me." Caleb shot a glare back up at the skies.

"Scared me and _infuriated_ me. How **dare** any mere human think he can _own_ **me**? He lives on the planet **I** created; he should be _grateful_ I allow him to live as he wants!" he hissed scathingly.

"Then that doesn't make you much better than him." Tootie pointed out bluntly, folding her arms over her chest, "We don't want to be controlled either, and here you are talking like we all owe you something." Caleb flinched slightly, face smoothing back out to neutral.

"You don't." he muttered, shouldering the giant fork, "Just live, just exist... and leave me alone."

Tootie opened her mouth, ready to berate him for talking like that, when the rapid-fire sounds of laser fire filled the air, several beams hitting the redhead before her and sending him crashing backwards into the tables of the cafe. Limbs flailed about as he fell onto his back, a look of shock on his face. The awning caught fire and Romi squealed in fright, pointing towards the sky as she fluttered back away from the flames.

"The black units! They found us!" she cried and ducked as more lasers were shot in her direction.

"We gotta-!" Tootie exclaimed and cried out as some of the blasts hit her body as well, throwing her backwards and slamming her into the sidewalk, "Augh!" She curled up instinctively, arms up to protect her head, and then stared in shock as Caleb pushed himself up from the ground and nearly threw himself over her. He hovered over the girl on all fours, grimacing as the units kept up their barrage of laser fire while Romi transformed herself in a floating fire hose, attached herself to a nearby hydrant and sprayed the awning with water before turning the flow on the black units.

"In retrospect, I probably should have used _Guardian_ to absorb some of those hits." the android muttered, "But the barrier's enough to deaden them and keep them from actually injuring you."

"If this winds up on some episode of _Touched by an Angel_, I'm going to kick you with Sam's boots." Tootie remarked thoughtlessly, still stunned that she'd been **shot** at by anti-magic units. Those things weren't supposed to have weapons like that! She was used to blades and clubs and teeth and stupid things like that; it was the reason she and everyone in Team Turner wore the magitech armor! _They_ shot units; units aren't supposed to shoot _back_!

"Why does everyone keep bringing up that show when I save them?" Caleb muttered in exasperation and shook his head when the girl lifted an eyebrow at him, "Happens in New York, don't ask. It's embarrassing."

A sudden explosion lit up the night sky and both Caleb and Tootie turned their heads to look up in surprise, gazing at the ball of light and fire and smoke that hung high overhead. Moments later, the black units dropped out of the air, evil-looking red lights flickering out. The two got back to their feet and Romi poofed free of the hydrant, floating back over to her godchild protectively.

"What happened? What was that?" Tootie murmured, gazing back up at the haze of smoke lingering after the light faded.

"A very big blast. Missile, maybe? I don't know." Caleb muttered in irritation as he cautiously approached one of the units and prodded it with the fork, "These things deactivated at about the same time, so perhaps they're connected. I'll take it back to New York with me, start working on figuring out what it is."

"Can we go with you?" Tootie asked suddenly, gesturing to herself and a surprised Romi, "We can't go anywhere without Romi's wand and I need a bath hardcore. Fresh clothes and a meal, too." Caleb tilted his head, considering the request for a moment before nodding.

"All right. You'll be able to call your friends and let them know you've been rescued, too." he agreed and held out a hand. The Goth grabbed on, Romi sitting on her shoulder, and watched as Caleb scooped up the black unit in the crook of one arm and focused on the fork in his hand.

They were gone in a blast of white smoke just as police cruisers shot past them.

* * *

~T Minus 2 Minutes

.

Wanda found it odd that she was being dragged to safety by Anti-Cosmo of all beings. Her hair was mussed and falling out of her curls, and she could feel the rush of air against the back of her neck from the anti-fairy's bat wings beating furiously to speed them all away from the black units still trailing them. She felt strangely detached from everything, her mind focused on just one thing.

They had _abandoned_ their godchild.

Wanda's heart ached and she whimpered, raising her arms to grasp at the air, wanting to grab onto Timmy's shirt and never let go, just to hold him and feel he was there with them. What kind of fairy godmother was she, to leave her godchild behind, surrounded by enemies and being beaten by his greatest rival?

Beside her, Cosmo twisted and fumed, hands reaching back and scratching at his anti-self's grip, trying desperately to get loose. She knew he felt the same way, perhaps all the more powerfully. For being a complete idiot, when it came to matters of the heart, Cosmo was as stubborn and unwavering as a rampaging tank. There was no way he was going to leave the brunet alone, not while he could still fight.

Anti-Wanda hovered nearby, chancing frightened glances back as the black units flew ever closer. With every flick of her wand, she would summon mirrors and floating ladders for the machines to crash into and trigger bad luck. It was good repellant for a while, but then the devices adapted to that and swerved around, dodging her attempts and drawing closer, the barrels of their laser rifles humming and glowing, ready to fire.

Wanda screamed a wordless cry in warning and Cosmo snarled in renewed fury, hands going to the front of his dress shirt and ripping it open, buttons flying everywhere as he slipped free and whipped out his wand, exchanging it in a puff of green smoke for the Stormreaver. Anti-Cosmo halted abruptly, turning back in shock as he lifted his hand still clutching a white shirt and black tie.

"What in blazes is he-?" he began and closed his wings, falling out of the line of fire as the black units began shooting lasers in rapid sequence, "They're _attacking_ us?" He let Wanda go, tossing the shirt and whipping out his own wand to fly to his own wife's defense. Anti-Wanda was fluttering about crazily, crying and yelping in fear as she was herded into an ambush, several of the units clustering into a circle and bearing their rifles on her.

"Wait! You don't have the magic to fight them!" Wanda exclaimed, bringing out her hammer to use as a shield. Some of those shots were getting close to her, and she could see that -as wildly as they were firing at her and Anti-Wanda- none of the units attempted to shoot at Cosmo or Anti-Cosmo. _'They're not going for them. Why? Are they like the other units, tracking by DNA?'_

And the weight of guilt lifted from her heart, filling it with relief instead. With a yell of renewed purpose, Wanda flew up and over the shots to bring the Heartache Hammer down on one of the black machines. Cosmo was already making short work of the others, slicing through unit after unit with the twin blades and jerking the entire weapon backwards to spear the other end through yet another.

Anti-Cosmo didn't have the amount of power his light counterpart did, but he did what he could by covering his wife with his body as much as he could, flying them both back away from the group still trying to shoot at Anti-Wanda. She'd pop up from behind his back to throw a random object at the devices, then duck back behind him for safety as they fired a shot. They missed her, but the close calls were too many for Anti-Cosmo's liking.

"My dim-witted darling, as much as I enjoy watching your antics, would you mind **not** baiting the things trying to kill you?" he declared in a growing panic, shifting in place constantly to try to keep the rifles diverted from firing on her.

And then it seemed the things made a decision on the situation, and Anti-Cosmo's eyes widened, heart leaping into his throat, as the units all moved as one and shifted their laser guns to point directly at him. His arms and wings were still spread, still trying to add surface area to hide his dear wife from them, and now he was as much a target as she was. Oh, this Halloween was just getting better and better.

Then several of the machines exploded in front of him, silvery blades catching starlight and glinting as Cosmo dove in and unleashed hell upon the devices, roaring like he was demon-possessed. Frightening to see, but it gave his anti-self some breathing room. Taking that chance, Anti-Cosmo turned his head to give some quick, easy-to-understand commands to his darling wife.

"Go hide!" he barked and poured as much of his own magic as he could into his wand before lashing it downwards before himself like an axe, unleashing a wave of pale blue light that sliced through the air. It impacted a pair of the black units, not destroying them -like he'd hoped would happen- but spinning them away in a tizzy.

"And what was that supposed to do? Make them sick and throw up?" Cosmo asked in that oddly cold tone that did not fit him at all as he flew back to join his anti-self, the Stormreaver held in a ready stance while he watched the movements of those last two units. "You don't have the power to really damage them; I do." The smile he gave to Anti-Cosmo was dry, almost bitter, "That's what all this is about, isn't it? I'm still alive and still this strong, so now Timothy's being targeted."

"We don't know that for certain..." the anti-fairy lied, glancing away so his light self didn't see the truth in his expression.

"We do. We've suspected from the start." Cosmo muttered, sparing him a frosty glance, "It always comes back to us, one way or another." He shot forward, whipping the scythe around and cleaving it through one of the spinning units. As it exploded, he flew back to stay out of its range and wound up in line with the other unit as it fired a burst from its laser rifle.

"No!" Wanda screamed in horror as she watched her husband be struck in the chest by the blast, falling out of the air limply while a rocket soared into the air some distance away, filling the skies with a thunderous roar that drowned out her cry. She flew in, swinging the bladed end of her weapon around and slamming it into that last unit in vengeful fury while Anti-Cosmo dove for his light self. He folded his wings close to his body and let gravity help him catch up to the green-haired fairy. Once he was close, he scooped the other up by the arms and furiously beat his wings to catch the updraft from the streets.

High above them all, the mystery rocket exploded, and Anti-Cosmo fluttered a little in surprise before touching down on the roof of a building, Anti-Wanda and Wanda both flying in to land by him. He stretched his light self out on his back, then began unbuttoning his own jacket as Wanda teared up and carefully touched fingertips to the angry burn stretched over the center of her husband's bare chest.

"I don't care **what's** in his head that's supposed to be keeping him in his place, if it can't even keep him **safe** in a skirmish, it doesn't have any business being in there!" the anti-fairy grumbled to himself, pulling off the jacket with a bit more ferocity than was necessary, "Wanda, he's all right, just unconscious and while I realize that burn looks very nasty it is **not** the end of the world. Trust me, I'd know if he were dead."

"It's going to hurt when he wakes up." Wanda mumbled dazedly, running her fingers through Cosmo's hair, pulling back as Anti-Cosmo hoisted him up and managed to get the jacket onto him.

"Yes, but that can't be helped. His wand isn't in his hand for him to boost his healing." he returned tiredly as he lay his light self back down to rest and looked around at the eerie silence of the city, broken now only by the distant screams of police sirens. He frowned slightly, then turned his gaze back to Wanda as his own wife chose that moment to drape herself against his back and nuzzle him. "We'll look after Cosmo; you may want to go back and check on Timothy. He's going to need someone that can grant wishes to get him away from that lot if the police are heading that way." he told the pink-haired fairy quietly.

Wanda stared at him uncertainly, eyes still teary and lip quivering, before she lunged forward and hugged him, catching Anti-Cosmo by surprise and sending Anti-Wanda fluttering back with a wide smile as she spun herself upside down.

"Thank you." the fairy murmured gratefully, eyes shut tight and streaming tears down her face, "I thought... I thought I couldn't trust you... but then this... and you helped Cosmo... _thank you_." It was a moment longer before he hugged back, shy and hesitant, as though even more uncertain than she was about this shift in dynamics between them all.

"As much as I hate to admit it," Anti-Cosmo murmured as she pulled away from him and rubbed at her eyes to dry her tears, "we both have the same goals now. Well, we've had them for four years, but we've never actively worked _together_ on them." He waited until she could look at him again before continuing. "We're both trying to protect Timothy and his secret from the rest of fairykind." he added grimly, "It's too late for the pixies, they already know. That's why the Spires exist, and that's why we... we must work together to defeat their plans."

Wanda nodded. "You're right. I'll go see how Timmy's doing. Please look after Cosmo." she murmured and lifted her own wand, poofing away in a cloud of pink smoke.

"He looks cute in yer fancy clothes, but his head looks like a Chia pet." Anti-Wanda remarked suddenly, draping herself onto his back again, giggling at the fact that her husband now wore only his pale blue dress shirt and ruffled cravat. Anti-Cosmo smiled as he stood guard over the unconscious fairy.

"My dear, are you trying to make me jealous? Tut, tut, shame, shame." he teased, reaching back to rub her head affectionately.

* * *

~T Minus 1 Minute

.

Chester felt that cold, hollow rage of someone who suspected they'd been lied to and decided he didn't like the feeling. He stood in the backyard of Buxaplenty Manor with Elmer, Sanjay and A.J. after they had asked what few party-goers still lingered if they'd seen Timothy Neogene around.

None of them did.

He asked if they saw a girl with long brown hair and a shimmery fancy dress. They told him she had thrown herself out of that blown-up room and then run off with a pair of big-headed little kids dressed like vampires.

"Chester, sir? That face you're making? It's starting to scare the witnesses." Elmer pointed out gingerly, snapping him out of his tunnel vision so he could see fine-dressed people shifting around nervously near cops taking down reports and statements.

"We're at a bust. Timantha's gone; Tim... Timothy never showed up; we still have no clue where Tootie and Romi are..." the blonde growled, turning to kick the tire of one of the rented limos, "What the hell are we supposed to do now?"

"I have been trying to get in contact with Timothy by phone." Sanjay reported, cell phone in hand and pressed to his ear. A helpless expression on his face didn't comfort the Leader of the Others at all. "But he has not picked up the last three times I tried. Nor is he picking up now."

"Did something happen to him on the way here that's keeping him from using his phone?" A.J. wondered aloud, gazing skyward out of concern, "We're so close to finding Tootie and destroying the last of the Spires. There's so much left to do, we can't afford to lose him now!"

Chester sighed in aggravation, pacing back and forth near the slightly miffed chauffeur as he thought hard on what he'd learned so far. Timantha was left behind to learn where Tootie and Romi were being held. Timmy left a robot copy of himself behind to go after her, which meant he would be coming here. But Timmy never arrived, and Timantha left the manor with the anti-fairies. Timmy's fairies were missing, and if they also knew that the other Timmy was a fake then they probably poofed off to join the real Timmy first chance they got. So, they should be okay for now, maybe. They needed to focus on where Timantha went; the only reason why she'd ditch the manor would be if she knew where Tootie and Romi were being held.

He headed back to one of the antsy party-goers in their fancy suits and dresses and stood before them, arms folded over his chest like he was the one in charge, not the cops. "Which way did the girl with the vampire kids run?" Chester asked in a calm, even tone, which probably scared the man before him even more. The guy immediately pointed a finger in one direction.

"That way! There was blood on her face and her dress was a wreck, but she ran that way like her life depended on it!" he blubbered. Chester blinked, a look of alarm coming over his face. Blood? On Timantha? That was new, no one told him that before.

Fairies couldn't injure humans, so was that something Remy did to her? And her dress was messed up...?

"If that bastard so much as **breathed** on her wrong, I am gonna **kill** him!" Chester raged, whipping back around as he glanced in the direction the other man pointed out. A Dark Spire loomed in that general direction, and he hissed again, lips pulled back as he stalked over to his friends. Before he even had the chance to tell them that they were all going straight to the Dark Spire and check around it for clues, the very tower he had looked at suddenly launched itself into the air.

He stopped in mid-step, staring with open-mouthed shock along with everyone else who noticed. The tower rose higher and higher, like a giant black rocket. People fell silent and watched, heads moving up to keep following the trail of fire and smoke since that was easier to track than the black of the Spire. And then they were nearly blinded by the explosion that went off when the tower-turned-rocket reached the highest it could over Dimmsdale. Some few moments later, they heard the thundering roar of that explosion sweep over them.

The cops got into action, calling in for more forces to head towards the site of that Dark Spire while herding the party-goers to safety, just in case another building decided to become a bottle rocket of ungodly size.

"Well, at least we know where Timmy went." A.J. muttered, one eye twitching.

"So the reason he didn't answer his phone is because he was busy fightin' at the Dark Spire _by himself_?" Chester exclaimed in a mix of horror and awe. And then managed to turn the freaking tower into an epic missile and launched it for all of Dimmsdale to see... Hell in a hand-basket in the back of a Dodge Viper.

"What do we do, Chester, sir?" Elmer asked quietly, the boy stepping up beside him even as his eyes remained on the cloud of smoke blotting out stars in the sky, "Should we go to that Spire's lot and see if Timmy and his cousin are there?"

Chester weighed his options, taking in what had changed and what would happen now. Police had already called in about the launch; cops would be showing up at that lot soon. If Timmy had his fairies, they'd be with him there and he could wish himself and the girl out of there to safety. Timmy planned the party in the park, so he might think of that as 'safety', or the Ivory Tower, or his own home. It doesn't answer the question of why he or Timantha would go to the Dark Spire.

"Call Timantha. Find out where she is. Once we know where she's standin', we can ask _what the hell is goin' on_." the blonde finally ordered in frustration, "This is one of the most damn confusin' Halloweens I've ever been in in all my life!" He paced again as Elmer dialed the girl's number and waited. A few minutes later, he was still waiting. "Well?" Chester growled.

"She's not picking up either." Elmer sighed, shaking his head as he ended the call attempt.

"Damn, what **else** could go wrong tonight?" Chester growled as Sanjay gasped and pointed skyward.

"Look! It's beautiful!" he exclaimed and the boys of the Others followed his outstretched arm to see a glimmering rainbow flow down from high above the clouds, stretching over the city and touching down in the side of Mount Dimmsdale.

"The rainbow bridge to Fairy World." A.J. muttered thoughtfully, rubbing at his chin, "Anti-Cosmo said that the bridge to Fairy World couldn't be reformed until eighty percent of the city was free of the Dark Spires." He lifted his hands and counted backwards from eight in rapid order, then looked around the skyline to be sure of his numbers. "That Spire that Timmy took out just now? It was the last one needed to fall in order to push Dimmsdale past that limit and re-establish the bridge."

"I wonder how that's going to affect us in bringing down the last two Spires." Elmer murmured as they watched the shimmer of color in the sky.

* * *

~T Minus 60 Seconds

.

"Timmy! Wake up!" Wanda's voice seemed to bury into his ears and do its best to drag him back to consciousness.

Screw consciousness, Timmy thought faintly, everything hurt and he just wanted to stay in a coma until the pain ended. But the act of thinking woke him a bit more, then the pain reminded him it was still there and that woke him up more, until finally he just groaned in frustration that he was coming back to awareness and all he had to show for it was a pair of holes in his gut that looked like they were still oozing blood. Well, at least it wasn't gushing, but that just told him his heart had stopped and that was kind of annoying.

Wanda floated above him, frazzled and frantic and wide pink eyes that kept straying to the dark wound revealed by the torn turtleneck. Timmy frowned slightly. Above... why above him? And then he realized that he was lying on his back on the pavement and blood had spilled and seeped all over the place, staining his clothes, his back, possibly his hair too. Great, that was gonna be sticky and smell bad until he bathed. The sounds of police sirens in the distance -and getting closer by the sound of it- also reminded him that the city was very much active tonight and he had just signaled everything alive that he just took out a Dark Spire.

Like this night couldn't get any worse. If not for the fact that it was Halloween, thus an October Thirty-First, Timmy was certain he'd declare it a Friday the Thirteenth and some stupid anti-fairy forgot he was supposed to be immune to bad luck.

He opened his mouth to vent his frustration with a bout of swears, remembered Wanda was there, and decided against it. Instead he exhaled slowly, releasing a long breath before touching fingers to the gash Remy had left in him and twitching at the surge of pain that brought. "Okay." Timmy told Wanda in a soft voice, "I'm just gonna admit you were right; turning myself into a girl for this whole plan to work wasn't the best idea. Neither was attacking the Dark Spire by myself. But at least it's gone."

"Sweetie, we need to go. Can you heal yourself?" Wanda returned worriedly, cupping one tiny hand against his cheek. Could he? He searched inward for any mana reserves and then got tired and gave up.

_'No, Wanda,'_ he wanted to say, _'I used up all the power I had to launch that rocket and shield me and Remy and Juandissimo at the same time and then I sat down to rest and just blacked out.'_

Instead he said, "I think I'm going to stop teasing you with the whole 'Mom' thing. Juandissimo kept calling me your name while I was a girl. How stupid can he be to think I looked like you? I didn't even have your curls." Wanda gave him a frail smile as the phone in Timmy's pocket began vibrating and ringing. Timantha's phone... he didn't move to pick it up and neither did his fairy godmother.

"Pretty stupid, huh? Can you move? Can you wish us off this lot?" she pressed, moving to smooth his hair back and ending up dipping her fingertips in drying blood. Timmy moved his gaze from her and up to the sky, where the thick cloud of smoke from the Spire rocket was still mostly hanging in a cluster. A ribbon of color, a rainbow, snaked down from high above the clouds and soared across the sky. Wanda turned her head to watch as well, gasping slightly as they followed its path to Mount Dimmsdale.

"Where's Cosmo?" Timmy asked, suddenly afraid of the brightly colored rainbow attached to the mountain in the distance.

"He's..." Wanda trailed uncertainly, looking back at her godchild, "He got hurt... by one of the black units. A burn of some kind. Anti-Cosmo and Anti-Wanda are keeping watch over him, so we need to go."

"Too tired to move." Timmy mumbled, closing his eyes. He didn't open them again until he felt himself being lifted from the hard ground. Wanda had taken on a taller, more human-sized form, wand and wings and crown still in place. "Halloween. Right. Free day." he murmured as he rested his head against her shoulder, feeling distantly bad that his blood would just stain her clothes and arms as she held him close. Her wings fluttered, humming like insect wings would, and she pushed off from the pavement to hover in the air.

"I think we'll skip a wish for now. Let's get you out of here to rest and heal." the pink-haired fairy whispered, worried eyes spotting the incoming cars, flashing blue and red lights marking them as police cruisers. She hugged her godchild tightly, then pointed her wand at the pool of blood, poofing it into a scattering of pink roses. Evidence now suitably gone, Wanda turned and flew off, back to the rooftop where her husband and the antis were waiting.

* * *

~Time

.

A shadowed figure watched from a rooftop as Wanda descended onto another building in the distance, speaking briefly with the antis before they gathered together and winged their way collectively towards Dimmsdale Park. It turned to watch the rainbow bridge for a moment before standing up.

The night had been long and hard on everyone, but there was still so much left to do. The Others needed to know where to go, a story for Timantha's disappearance needed to be invented, Chip Skylark needed to recover, Timmy Turner needed to heal, Cosmo needed to wake up and reclaim his wand; Tootie needed to let her friends know she was safe, Romi needed to get her wand back, Caleb needed to restore control of himself, Danny Phantom needed to wake up from his coma.

Remy needed to pay for what he'd done, the pixies needed to be put in their place, and justice needed to be served. Most of all, those last two Spires needed to be destroyed.

The shadow sighed and arched their spine backwards, arms flung out as if to encompass the city and the sky. A few pops sounded as kinks were worked out, and the figure sighed again, this time in relief.

It was weakened from all the times it had helped Timmy out, but after that last rejection it just got fed up and abandoned him in disgust. Ah well, it would leave Dimmsdale for now and lick at wounds and grow a bit stronger. Then it would return and see how things were doing. Maybe by then Timmy wouldn't be so opposed to joining forces again? It hoped so. The boy wouldn't be able to survive without its help.

Who knows? The figure spun on one heel and hummed serenely before vanishing from sight and from the city.

The sun peeked over the easternmost edge of Dimmsdale, now bearing just two Dark Spires in its skyline, and the morning known as the Day After Halloween to so many children began.

To Be Concluded...

* * *

And this finishes up Act 4 of Burning Black, The Darkest of Secrets. Next Act, we'll go into the aftermath of the Halloween rescue, including the long-awaited return of Danny Phantom, and prepare for the final showdown with Remy, the destruction of the last two Spires, and the confrontation with the Pixies and Crocker to find out once and for all what the hell all this was for. Secret plans are brought to light, truths are revealed, and Dimmsdale will be forever changed in Burning Black Act 5: Night of Revelation!


End file.
